The Forbidden Game volume four: The Quest
by x-Decent.Angel-x
Summary: Jenny is recovering from her dramatic and life changing past with the Shadoworld, but the game is never over. Jenny must now complete another mind challenging game to save her friends and the boy she loves.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jenny knew she was dreaming. She recognised the unrealistic sensation of her movements, and the all too familiar feeling of safety in a blatantly dangerous setting. Either that, or the fact that she had already been scared to her wits in this place once before made it somehow reassuring that she knew exactly what she was doomed to face.

She allowed herself a quick visual sweep over the theme park. The dark eeriness of shadows loomed over everything; rides and stands that in a more cheery scenario would seem so innocent. The same deadly attractions the shadowman created before remained in her vision of Joyland, all looping their menacing, out of tune fairground music and flashing lights that only seemed to add to the creepy, otherworldly atmosphere around her. She noticed the funhouse to her right where her friends had once helped her save Summer, and the Tunnel of Love and Despair distantly facing her where Julian had confessed the groups deepest secrets of which, to his dismay, had only brought them closer. She felt the overwhelming desire to feel the walls of these places again, remember all the spine tingling moments she had faced the prince of darkness to save the people she loved. Jenny looked into the starless black sky and sighed. This may have been the most popular location of her worst nightmares, but now it didn't even seem that bad. The theme park was totally empty, void of any grotesque shadow creatures or monsters, and the danger of being found by Julian was gone entirely. She wandered through the sea of rides, looking at the paper-eating lion head that had gnawed at Dee's arm in the last game, and casually passing the murky fish pond with it red-shingled roof where Audrey had been pulled in by Slugs headless, rotting body. A heavy mist crept in around her ankles, and built up as she stumbled deeper into the park. Jenny fought the urge to turn back to her safe spot.

The mischievous sensation she usually felt in the shadow park had returned. In the distance, she spotted the silhouette of a man masked by the mist reaching above her head, and Jenny froze. She was now by the Tunnel of Love and Despair, and could barely see the swan boat bobbing about in its entrance. The silhouette continued to drift towards her, and Jenny bent into the defence position that Dee taught her in preparation. She had used the kung fu that her beautiful African princess-like friend showed her so often now that it almost came naturally to Jenny, but even now she could taste the bile in her mouth as a result of her fear. As the features of the figure became more apparent, Jenny regained the ability to move and rushed to him.

"Grandfather!" she exclaimed, throwing herself around the old man's neck.

"Hello Jenny" he chuckled lightly, patting her on the back briefly and pulling out of her grip, "Good to see you." She absorbed his human appearance; the tired, dark eyes and thinning white hair were traits Jenny never forgot, and she inhaled the peppermint smell she always associated with him. He wore the same blue cardigan sweater he'd worn the day the Shadowmen had taken him, and tucked wrinkly hands into beige pant pockets.

"What are you doing in my nightmare?" Jenny suddenly became aware of the bizarre situation. She had dreamt of Joyland many times, sometimes replaying the vulgar scenes where Dee, Audrey and Michael had harmed themselves trying to save Zach and Tom, or the encounter with Julian in the cave when he rescued her from a near death experience, but never before had her grandfather featured in her nightmares, at least not in this human form. His friendly smile disappeared and an intent look replaced it.

"I'm here to show you something that you probably don't want to see" the words left his lips slowly, "But Jenny, you must do this." Jenny swallowed and looked away from his face, noticing the 'penny arcade' sign light up dramatically as if it were waiting for the ideal moment to do so. Jenny's grandfather turned to look at the arcade then gestured to her to follow.

"But, you're no longer a prisoner in the Shadow World, why are you here?"

"It's a long story Jenny, and the fewer questions you ask, the quicker you can finish this nightmare."

Jenny pursed her lips and they started towards the arcade. The arcade machines were all fighting to be heard, blasting fairground music from all directions. The pair stood in the doorway, watching the hellish scene inside. The black cabinet that once possessed Slug and P.C.s severed heads was empty, yet still shone an eerie blue light onto surrounding machines, and the grandfather clock with the mirror inside wildly threw its doors open and shut in a frenzied movement. Jenny pressed her palms to her ears and squeezed her eyelids shut in a desperate attempt to block out the sound. She wished the silence was back, sound was too painful to think in. The noise was muffled by her hands, and a few more minutes passed before she felt a supporting hand on her shoulder. As her grandfather did so, the noise disappeared, and each machine in turn switched off it lights, starting from the ones either side of the arcade room nearest to them, to the fortune telling box on the far side of the room, which was lit up by a single overhead light directly above it. Jenny hadn't noticed before that the box was covered by a dirty white cloth, and its exclusivity sent chills through her body.

"Bet you feel weird seeing that again grandfather" Jenny chuckled under her breath awkwardly, loud enough for him to hear.

"Not as weird as it will be for you" Jenny watched him outstretch a closed fist to her, and reveal a single penny resting in the palm of his hand. It looked impossibly old, and shone a wonderful copper colour in the dim light.

"Take it Jenny; you have to do this without me." She looked up into his solemn eyes, each muscle in her body tensing as she took the penny from him. It was cool against her fingers, and gripping it tightly, she made her way towards the machine with a hint of hesitation.

The box was even shabbier looking than before, and the words 'read prediction here' on the plastic tape were visibly deteriorating. The glass was dark, too dark to see without turning on the machine and largely covered by the cloth. The overhead light was too dim to be of any use. She stopped an inch away from it, contemplating the horrid things that may await her from within the glass; a deformed monster snarling with saliva dripping from its razor teeth, or an elder shadowman with scaly skin and piercing eyes that looked into your very soul. Whatever lurked in that darkness, Jenny already knew she didn't want to know. _I'm here to show you something you probably don't want to see, but you must do this _her grandfather had told her. She wondered if the word probably should be comforting, but the chances were slim. Jenny closed the gap between her and the box watching it come to life. Two light bulbs shone within it, and its contents were exposed to the world. With another brave movement, Jenny grabbed the nearest corner of the cloth and flung it to the floor, gasping as the figure was revealed.

Once, what seemed like long ago, she had become hysterical over an old, tired-looking sorcerer that was transformed into a plastic wizard, the cruel inside joke of the Shadowmen, but this time they hadn't even bothered with humour. The wizard was completely gone, no wand or beard. In its place was a boy who looked her age, with beautiful azure eyes and frosty white hair moulded into a familiar style; cropped at the back and long at the front. He wore a black vest top, its design a mixture of cyberpunk and Byronic poet. In the place of a wand, he held a piece of plastic that seemed to resemble a wooden Runestave, something she distinctly remembered from her last encounter with the Shadowmen. Worst of all, he wore an expression she had only seen him wear once before, in the confinements of a fire-lit cave, one of pain and loss. The prediction card slipped out, and in a state of disorientated shock, she reached for it.

HELP ME JENNY

That did it. The last of whatever composure she'd had disappeared and she fell to her knees, her scream caught in her throat. _It can't be, It can't be, _Jenny repeated in her head, it didn't seem possible, it didn't feel right. The Shadowmen wouldn't do this, would they? But they would. They were evil and capricious and deadly. She'd seen their wrath, come face to face with the repulsive remains of their victims, and knew deep down in the core of her heart, they were enjoying this. The figure was completely motionless in the box. It didn't move like her grandfather did when he was their plaything. It just looked at her, pleading with sad, blue painted eyes, so sad that Jenny couldn't bear to look away for one second. A single pain-filled tear fell from her eye, and she reached a hand to the glass in front of her.

"Oh Julian," She whispered, "What have they _done _to you?"


	2. Chapter 2

So yeah i pretty much finished this chapter now. I was going to wait till i had gotten into the last few words of chapter 3 before putting this up, but with all the stress atm of exams and, well, life, i thought it's only fair i release this chapter to keep you guys occupied for a while. Don't worry, i'll get down and working on this book asap! Thank you for the lovely comments :)

Chapter 2 

Jenny felt the shadows clear from her mind as she sat up abruptly in her bed. The shocking sensation from seeing Julian so helpless hadn't quite left her body, and she continued to tremor as she fumbled for her bed-side light switch. Jenny stopped fumbling when she noticed the room wasn't dark. It glowed a faint green colour, similar to the shade of grass in spring, and seemed to be emanating from the far corner of her room. Except, that corner of her room was entirely enveloped in dark shadows.

Jenny rose from her bent position slowly and pushed herself up against her bed's headboard, reaching for the baseball bat she kept behind the bedside table. Time seemed to drag as she anxiously waited for something to happen. The uncomfortable silence roared in her ears, and she started to miss the frantic music of the arcade.

"Nice to see your grandfather again?" a voice sounded from deep within the darkness. It was delicate but menacing, like harsh wind over smooth metal. The Shadowman exited the shadows, moving gracefully towards her wardrobe and resting an arm against it. He eyed his prey lethargically, and pulled back his lips to reveal a perfect row of white teeth. Jenny inwardly shuddered.

"Mr Eric Evenson, a powerful sorcerer, now just a fading memory. Pity…" he talked as if reading an extract from a history book, one he found rather uninteresting, "People shouldn't mess with things they don't understand."

"He didn't mean any harm." Jenny didn't want to say anything to him, but seeing her grandfather again made her feel defensive, like there was still a way to bring him back to life, but squinting at this Shadowman in the dim glow of her bedroom, she knew realistically she would never see him again.

"Magic is harm, Jenny. Forbidden things are forbidden for a reason." He chuckled then, tossing an object effortlessly into the air and catching it in one fluid movement. Upon landing, Jenny saw that it was a small piece of wood with Rune carvings on its smooth surface. A Runestave. His eyes skimmed her once again, the hunger within them making her feel more and more like a piece of meat.

"What do you want from me?" Jenny whispered, clutching her arms with either hand. She wore a white string sleeve top with chequered red and pink pyjama bottoms, and the lack of protection made her feel awfully exposed and cold in his presence.

"I want to talk, is that so wrong?" He took another few steps towards her and leant his slender body against her window sill. In the moonlight seeping through her curtains, she could make out a plain black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and skinny black jeans that revealed long, muscular legs. He had jet black hair illuminated by the natural light from the window, and his eyes were bright neon green, exactly like the room's eerie green glow. Jenny noticed that he had heavy black eyelashes like Julian and a dagger tattoo on his left wrist, and around his neck he wore a chain with a single charm that, from where she sat, appeared to resemble a wolf. His expression was mocking and daring, ready to prance at her at any moment. He continued to play with the stave, turning it in his hand then tossing it skilfully into the other hand.

"I didn't think it was in your nature to just talk." Jenny edged further into the headboard. She knew it was wrong to talk back to him; it would be over much quicker if she just let him take her, but Jenny felt an old yet recognizable confidence in the centre of her chest, one that she had felt a few times around Julian when she believed she could take control of the situation. _You foolish girl, _Jenny thought to herself. The Shadowman chuckled briefly.

"I enjoy a decent conversation every now and then." He averted his attention to the Runestave, and Jenny watched his heavy eyelashes fall as if they were a great weight on his eyelids. She could make out three runes as he kept the Runestave still; Uruz, Isa, Nauthiz. The others weren't familiar to her, but it didn't matter. She already knew what they meant.

"I thought Julian was the youngest of his race." His eyes shot up to look at her, his face twisting into a smug expression. Jenny forgot to breathe for a second.

"'was', the keyword in such a presumption. You could say I'm the new improved replacement of your boyfriend." The Shadowman gestured towards his perfect physique, still smiling at her, this time more sweetly, "You may call me…Darien." Jenny swallowed uneasily. She knew that Julian had been an exception among his kind. Shadowmen wanted to kill her. They really wanted to kill her. But Darien would drag this out for as long as he was enjoying it.

"So, did you find that nightmare as much fun as I did?" his tone dropped to a sinister level. Jenny stared at him in bewildered horror. Her mind lingered on the image of those sad blue eyes, the serene face of her once joyful grandfather, and the theme park that had been home to her fondest childhood memories. She couldn't even fathom how any of those images could be linked to the word 'fun'.

"That isn't how I'd describe it" she spat the words out with steady, growing rage, feeling adrenaline pour into her blood stream and fill her with a strength that lifted her from the bed. She didn't know what she was planning to do, but Jenny was already up and advancing a step toward him, carrying the bat firmly in her hand. Darien bowed politely, and just before she could move an inch closer, he straightened himself and held up the Runestave.

"Remember what this is?" He enquired audaciously. She watched him twist his wrists, revealing it's every angle to her, and she sunk back onto the edge of her bed. The anger drained from her body as rapidly as it had consumed her.

"It's not only a Runestave Jenny. It's my Runestave, and it only has one name on it." She had deduced this some moments ago, and knew he could only have it for the worst of reasons.

"_Why _do you have that_?_" she breathed.

"I like to think of it as my welcoming present. It's like human babies and their toys. Every new born baby gets a toy to play with, sometimes one that is handed down to them by their ancestors." Jenny watched him incessantly twirl the Runestave in his hand, proudly showing off his 'new toy'. She considered the consequences of attempting to take it from him and run, losing an arm perhaps? Or maybe her life? Jenny clenched her teeth and looked down at her sweating hands, she couldn't bear to watch him play with the stave like it were nothing more than a tennis ball any longer.

"It's a universal fact that any new born organism needs to be entertained. After all, what's existence without a little fun?" He laughed lightly again. Jenny dug her nails into her palms and closed her eyes. His laugh always sent a wave of menace down her spine.

"What do you want me to do?"

Darien seemed faintly taken aback, and his tone changed once again to sound angelically innocent. "What makes you think I want you to do anything for me?"

"I'm used to this sort of taunting, Darien. You are hinting to me that you want something in exchange for Julian's Runestave, more specifically some sort of sick, twisted game." The words came out of her mouth rather unsteadily. She'd known it was coming, and felt the turmoil in her stomach as she pronounced the last three words. Darien laughed, lashes drooping again before searching her eyes.

"Very good. _Very_ good. Not as dumb as I originally believed. And without even mentioning the word game." He applauded her condescendingly for a while, then crossed his arms to his chest and tilted his head to the side.

"I'm assuming you recall the basic rules?" Darien eyed her expectantly, tapping one of his arms with long, lean fingers. Jenny nodded and mentally listed them; _original players must play the chosen game, through a series of clues and riddles, they must get to the end to win, if they reach the end they…._ The last time Jenny had played a Shadowman's game, she had been his prize and her prize had been freedom for herself and her friends.

"And you'll let Julian free if I win?" Jenny enquired. Darien lifted his head from it's tilted position and grinned.

"You want to discuss the stakes?"

"I'm taking it there a little different to the other games." Jenny felt numb and exhausted, the energy she'd possessed moments ago had been drained from her veins, and all that was left was a powerless prey waiting to be pounced on. _He wants to eat me _her mind told her, _he wants to feed on me_.

"You presumed correctly. I will grant you Julian's freedom and return him to you. If you win." She watched his grin widen, enjoying her withering reaction to his last sentence.

"And when I win, I get you." Jenny forced eye contact with him again. Darien spoke the words so softly she nearly didn't hear them, and she wasn't certain she had the correct interpretation of 'getting her' in her mind. His lime green eyes appeared to glimmer, a gesture that reminded Jenny of Cosette's eyes whenever she hid in the darkness ready to pounce.

"Of course, not in the pathetic human way. A Shadowman's got to eat." His pupils seemed to dilate slightly, and Jenny immediately looked away, squeezing her eyes shut once again. "And quite frankly, I'm famished..."

"Why me?" Jenny murmured, fighting back the urge to swing the bat still glued to her palm at him. She wanted to hurt him, more than she had ever wanted to hurt anyone, or anything else before, but she wouldn't dare try. She would never stand a chance against someone who possessed the ability to use magic against her. Darien seemed irritated by her interruption to his dramatic threat, but remained calm and collected, allowing the fierce anger boiling in the core of his eyes to melt away.

"Isn't it obvious, Jenny?" he sighed impatiently, "What better a way to goad Julian?"

She realised the simplicity of such a vindictive plan. Darien was only using Jenny to torment his Shadowman prisoner. Darien had an evil that was unlike that of his ancestors, one that was purposely created to punish their defective betrayer, and Jenny was just a mere torturing tool.

The image of Julian trapped in the fortune telling box seemed even more real now; unable to move, unable to save his helpless Jenny from this erratic predator. The ultimate punishment for someone so used to power and control was to take it all away from them and force them to watch the damage unfold.

Jenny tightened her grip on the bat. If he infuriated her anymore, she knew she wouldn't hesitate to hurl her weapon right into his perfect little face. Jenny felt a whirlwind of hate, fear and anger suddenly clouding up her brain, and had the reckless urge to act on impulse. Clenching her free hand, she bit her bottom lip and watched him lean towards her through narrowed eyes.

"I think I'll be taking this from you," Darien pulled the bat from her grasp before she could react and smiled politely, "I don't particularly trust a hormonal teenage girl with a bat." He traced a rune onto the bat, the same one Julian had used in the last game to provide a light source in the dark cave, and she watched in shock as the bat burst into flames, falling to the floor in a pile of dull grey ash.

"Now, moving on?" Darien flicked a piece of ash off his jeans and shot Jenny another menacing grin before wandering to her full length mirror by her bed-side table. Jenny sighed dejectedly, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Please don't include my friends in this, make the game between you and me" The gang had gone their separate ways since the last game, and the idea of yet another mentally corrupting challenge that would surely aim to turn them against each other was too much to think about. Especially with Tom, who had very recently found a new girlfriend and left his old life behind. Darien ignored her for a while, conceitedly admiring his appearance before looking towards her with an expression that chased all hope away.

"Rule one, Jenny, all original players are involved. At least, that's what Julian agreed." Darien tossed the Runestave in the air and caught it again, not once looking away from Jenny. His enjoyment wasn't wavering, and Jenny's battle between fear and protective anger was making her feel very tired. _Just do what you need to do and go _Jenny thought sleepily.

"But I like to bend the rules a little, so I'm engaging few special guests in this game. You do not have to worry about the game becoming predictable and tedious like Julian's." Jenny started to protest, but Darien was already moving on from the topic.

"But please, cease the negotiations, it's almost morning now and you don't even have your first clue."

"First clue to what?" She could hear the instability in her voice; his mind games were frustrating and tiresome, and Jenny felt her eyelids fighting to stay open enough to look concentrated.

"Excellent question." Darien clicked his fingers, and in an instant he was gone. Everything was gone.

Jenny sat up in her bed and strained her eyes to see in the overwhelming sunlight. The room was bright and free of evil Shadowmen and eerie glows. Jenny sighed in relief. _I was just having a seriously weird, and horrible dream _she reassured herself, but as she leaned over to check the positioning of her bat, she noticed the empty space where it had once been, and the small pile of ash on her floor. Her alarm began to play its high-pitched jingle, and she read 10.30.a.m on its screen.

"Jenny, we're making pancakes down here!" Mrs Thornton called up the stairs.

"I'll be down soon!" Jenny pulled the covers off her body and walked to the window, meaning to draw the curtains slightly, but as she approached the window sill she caught sight of a piece of yellow tinted paper leaning against her window. Its corners were burnt slightly, and its centre were four lines of beautiful black calligraphy. She read each word carefully, immediately recognising the riddle format:

I'm big and inviting, yet so out of place,

I'm lost in a desolate, forgotten space,

I'm full of such wonders, including the key,

That you need to find to set your friends free.

"Here we go again." Jenny sighed despondently, folding the piece of paper neatly and slipping it into the back pocket of her jeans before joining the rest of the Thornton's downstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry about the wait, I've been really ill lately, bed ridden and stuff….long story short: OWWW. In this chapter I'm just trying to get a feel of Jenny's new life and how she thinks now and stuff, so I really hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think!

Chapter 3

Before she entered the Animal Shelter that morning, Jenny stood and looked up into the sky. The weather seemed so bleak compared to the string of days that had provided such beautiful sunshine and heat. On this particular Saturday morning, thick grey clouds obscured the sun entirely, casting a great shadow over the earth. _Just what I need, more shadows _Jenny sulked. She took a careful sip of her Starbucks coffee, and then made her way into the building.

Janet was, as always, indulged in a friendly conversation with a couple directly next to the entrance. She seemed to be discussing living conditions for a puppy as far as Jenny could interpret, and the conversation was coming to a close. Jenny silently passed the group and went to place her belongings in the lockers behind the till. She briefly scanned the customers; the man was tall and thin with wavy blond hair and too-big black 80s style glasses perched on his button nose. From the satin blue Gucci suit and silver Rolex watch he wore, Jenny assumed this man was high in whatever branch of work he was in. If the designer suit and other material goods didn't give it away at first glance, his stunningly dressed wife would have made his wealth very obvious, whose glossy black hair reaching down to her waist in dreamy waves and chic gold Giorgio Armani dress were beyond the reach of any man without money to keep her satisfied. Jenny sighed and busied herself with small tasks at the till, tidying the counters surface and shredding any useless paperwork to keep herself distracted. Couples like that were only supposed to exist in movies and Hollywood, no genuine person could really look that perfect, could they?

"Thank you so much for coming today Mr and Mrs Johnson." Janet shook their hands formally, meeting their eyes with a wide, amicable smile. Mrs Johnson returned the smile, while Mr Johnson glanced outside warily.

"The clouds are coming in fast today." He observed.

"Yes they are. It looks like there's a storm coming!" Mrs Johnson replied. The three of them found this amusing, but Jenny shudder at the cliché remark. _You bet there's a storm coming _she thought to herself, retrieving the note from her pocket absentmindedly and looking over the words. _Something out of place, lost in a forgotten space….. _It seemed so conspicuous, if this thing was so big and inviting then it couldn't be too hard to find.

"I have to find something." Jenny said aloud, suddenly realising the nature of a game, a hunt, quest-like game.

"Why, what have you lost?" Jenny turned to see a merry Janet arranging some merchandise onto the correct shelves with a huge smile still spread on her face. Jenny hurriedly shoved the note back into her pocket and pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

"Oh, er, nothing, my friend is playing a joke on me, did you get them to adopt?" She pointed towards the glass door, where they could see the Johnsons walking towards their car. As long as she could change the subject, Jenny was sure Janet would forget the note completely.

"They're still considering, but it's hopeful. Mrs Johnson was particularly fond of Duchess, so it would really be helpful if you could quickly bathe her today." Jenny nodded obediently. She loved pampering the animals and handling them, much more than waiting at the till all day for customers that only came in a few times a month.

"Sure, no problem" She smiled down at the happy woman, who's cheery expression seemed to falter into a look of concern.

"Jenny, your eyes are very bloodshot this morning. Have you not been sleeping well?" The curiosity surprised Jenny. Janet never asked questions she considered to be intruding. Jenny considered her answer.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I've just been watching too much television; it's made my eyes sore."Jenny knew the excuse wasn't very believable, because Janet had heard Jenny complain about how boring television was despite its many channels. Janet frowned, searching Jenny's eyes for a while, but gave up and let Jenny go, taking her place behind the counter. Janet was like a second mum to Jenny, always wanting to know if she was feeling alright and taking shifts from her that she knew Jenny didn't particularly enjoy, and Jenny was grateful for it, so without another word, she made her way to the play pens to look for Duchess.

As she opened the wire cage door, Jenny was surrounded by a multitude of dogs, gleefully wagging their tails and pushing against one another to win Jenny's attention. Jenny closed the door behind her and leant down to stroke as many as she could handle, while searching the different breeds for Duchess, the King Charles spaniel. Duchess was sitting royally outside of the mass of dogs, watching their behaviour with mild interest. She had always been reclusive, and very much enjoyed her own private space whenever it was available in the play pen. Jenny smiled and cautiously walked through the gaps between Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians and Chihuahuas while avoiding tripping over Bulldogs and Golder Retrievers as if the play pen was an awkward chaotic obstacle course. She reached Duchess quickly, kneeling beside her and ruffling her silky honey coloured ears. Duchess leant into Jenny's hand to show her enjoyment, and Jenny couldn't help but giggle at the adorable gesture. The door opened behind her, and Jenny turned to see innocent blond curls and china blue eyes staring down at her.

"Hey Jenny." Summer called, trying to control the dogs by her feet as she smiled at her friend. The coal black skirt reaching to her knees and electric blue top she wore were so different to her usual sweet summer dresses that Jenny had to contemplate if this was really Summer Parker-Pearson standing in front of her.

"Morning Summer, you've changed your style a bit since I last saw you!" Jenny rose from her bent position and hugged Summer, taking in the sweet scent of flowers from her perfume. Summer laughed shyly, pulling back to show off her new look.

"Ha-ha yes, I know Zach likes Cyberpunk so I'm giving it a try."

"You're still with my cousin? Wow! How long has it been now?" Summer rolled her eyes, and Jenny laughed. Summer had never rolled her eyes at Jenny before.

"Well, we started dating after the last game, so I guess it's been about two years now!" Jenny's excitement faltered slightly. No one had talked about the game so casually before, let alone brought it into a conversation so easily. The group had almost brushed aside the word as something not to be mentioned in civil society, it just didn't fit in their world anymore.

"I'm glad it brought at least you two together." Jenny was reminded of Tom once again. After the first game Tom believe that Jenny was too good for him, and after the kidnap into the Shadow world and death of Julian, he'd found that Jenny only reminded him of the trauma that came with that experience, and decided that being in each others lives was too painful to continue. That's what _he_ decided anyway. Her other friends Audrey, Michael and Dee were all so busy with college and work that in the end, friendships had fizzled and broken apart. Summer noticed the distress in Jenny's eyes and sighed.

"This whole ignoring each other is so silly in my opinion. I mean, yeah, the games were rough and everything, but I think he did us all a favour." Jenny stared at Summer in perplexed fascination. Shy, fragile little Summer, standing before her, telling her the games from hell were quite beneficial.

"Really?" Jenny managed; she was still searching her friend's eyes for a hint of sarcasm. Summer rolled her eyes again.

"Don't tell me you're oblivious to it too! Jenny, without Julian's influence on us, Audrey and Michael wouldn't be as close as they are now, Tom would still have control over everything you do, and I wouldn't have Zach." She blushed slightly, triggering an involuntary smile to form on Jenny's lips.

"And, Jenny, look at you! You're such a different person now. You are strong and independent, you took on a deadly mystical race, tricked the devil! That's so cool!" Jenny knew that Summer was right. She's always known that Julian had unintentionally brought certain people in the group closer rather than apart, and made each individual person stronger too. Her introvert, madly talented cousin had found love in a small blond girl, who through her own almost death and nightmare had become a striking, unconventional woman, and her friends Michael and Audrey, who according to rumour, had announced their engagement about a month ago. Even wild tigress Dee, the technophobe who decided against all odds to go to college to study Information and Technology, while resuming her part-time job teaching kung-fu. All of her friends had come out stronger and better people, and Jenny had found the wild adventure seeking side of herself that loved a challenge and missed Julian terribly.

She marvelled at these changes, but had to confess that the life she'd dreamt of before that; the simple marriage between herself and Tom, having children; she could sometimes still see it all, the remains of a long ago definite dream. Thorny didn't want anything else but her Tommy, he was perfect and sweet and safe, above all safe, yet it all fizzled away so quickly with the first game. She missed his secure arms, his protective nature, the rakish grin. She wanted to feel safe again, and yearned for those worry-free days, when finding a game for his birthday last minute was the most secretive, daring thing she could imagine doing.

"I know, we just don't really…discuss it anymore." Jenny mumbled. As good as it felt bringing up the subject, Jenny wasn't sure it was the best time or place to talk about Shadowmen and mysterious life altering games.

"It's okay, I'm actually looking to adopt a dog today, so maybe we can continue the discussion later?" Summer grinned at Jenny, fingering perfectly painted aqua nails in anticipation. Jenny felt the need to squeeze her friend close to her. She didn't know whether it was because her friend was interesting in adopting one of her dogs, or because she finally had someone to talk to about the game with, or because she had just really missed Summer's company, but it didn't matter. Jenny wrapped her arms around Summer again, allowing a joyful tear to fall down her cheek while Summer couldn't see.

"I'm so happy to see you Summer." Jenny whispered. Summer's giggle was muffled by Jenny's shoulder, but she could still hear it.

"It's good to see you too, Jenny."

"She is really hot." Aaron whispered as Jenny approached the washroom with Duchess. He looked as scruffy as he usually did; red t-shirt crumpled and faded, ripped jeans hanging unkemptly with no belt to help support them, and dirty once white trainers with black laces sprawled carelessly on the floor. His long blond hair was pushed to the side of his face untidily, and his eyes were locked onto Summer.

"She's dating my cousin, and she has been for a couple of years now." Jenny told him with a hint of resentment. Jenny missed being in a relationship dreadfully. Aaron looked away from Summer and eyed Jenny.

"Guess that just leaves me and you Jen, two singletons, in a room, all alone…" Aaron had shifted position, leaning against one of the dog baths with one of Tom's rakish grins on his lips. Jenny felt goose bumps form on her limbs.

"That's probably the 8th or 9th time you've tried that now. I wonder when you'll get bored of it…" Jenny looked at him, allowing her mocking expression to wash away his smug attempt to flirt with her.

"I just don't completely get it, that's all. I mean, you know I'm not actually a slob, I dress like this cos Janet gives me all those big, smelly dogs to tend to." Aaron lifted his t-shirt slightly to emphasis his point, and Jenny laughed involuntarily.

"See? I make you laugh, I'm a good guy. We're both looking for someone, and it would be so much easier if you weren't so picky!" Jenny placed Duchess into the warm water she'd run for the dog while Aaron had been talking, and started massaging shampoo into her silky fur.

"I'm not picky, I don't want to start seeing someone I sort of work with." Jenny lied. As much as she missed the Tom in her head, Jenny didn't miss the controlling, typical male dominating personality he had, and Aaron appeared to possess similar characteristics. Jenny's longing for the relationship lifestyle didn't involve becoming a desperate single girl accepting any guy who promised to make her feel good. She was her only master, and Mr. Right would have to sweep her off her feet if he wanted a piece of the new Jenny Thornton. Aaron surrendered once again and casually leant against the glossy white counter in the corner of the small washroom, watching Jenny bathe Duchess.

"So is your friend looking to adopt a dog then?" Jenny relaxed. This subject seemed a lot friendlier and impersonal.

"Yeah, I imagine she'll discuss it all with Janet soon. I love how she searched down the rescue home I worked in to adopt a dog." Aaron arched an eyebrow.

"Summer's a friend from the past then, right?" his tone seemed intrigued, and Jenny glanced at him briefly before rinsing the conditioner off Duchess. The King Charles Spaniel grunted contently, shaking her head as the warm water soaked her fur.

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were kids, but drifted apart after high school."

"Wow, I don't keep in touch with any of my old friends, we have nothing in common anymore." Aaron mumbled, drifting into his own thoughts. Jenny bit her lip, she wondered if they would have stayed friends for as long as they had if Julian hadn't played with their lives. After all, isn't that what they all had in common?

"But yeah, she's a keeper, I wouldn't let her go now you have her again." Aaron winked cheekily, and Jenny let a knowing smile form on her lips. She had lost Summer twice now, and she certainly wasn't going to lose her again.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so so so so so so sorry about the wait! Oh dear this took me some time, I wrote it then didn't like some of it so re-wrote it, then my exams came up, then my laptop charger started sparking and…..urgh, just a series of unfortunate events!

But no fear, I have made this one much longer than the other chapters, it felt like it needed a lot more information, since I'd really like to start the games soon while the ideas are still in my head, so yeahh chapter 4, enjoy!

Chapter 4

She sat down in her room lost in heavy thought. Jenny felt unbearably distressed; her mind was constantly trying to solve a stupid riddle some mystical creature had given her during the night, and the possibility of a new game had forced her to remember her old life; a time when she would go out to see Audrey, so they could meet up for coffee and swap stories about their weeks, laughing, crying, chatting. They would go and see movies together, support one another when something upset them; Audrey was very good at consolidation, though it mostly consisted of finding any other guy but Tom to be with. Jenny and Dee used to talk on the phone daily, catching up and arranging meeting days that never actually came. Michael used to bump into Jenny at the mall frequently and tell her about a new discovery in his research that he was fascinated by, and Jenny would listen with slight interest to his bizarre findings. Even Tom and Zach would ring ever so often to catch up on news, but as Jenny had drifted from the outside world, so had her social life. It seemed like years since Jenny had actually gone out to meet someone, and now she was getting ready to go and meet Summer in the big busy streets of uptown. It actually frightened her, she didn't want to go somewhere busy and crowded where people could _see _her. The thought of leaving her house for reasons other than work and essential shopping was unnerving, and she'd come to the horrifying realisation that the real world scared her just as much as the shadow world. People were judgmental and cruel; they isolated and ignored things that they didn't consider the norm, as if it were some acceptable torture. Jenny didn't feel like a normal person anymore, and knew every second the public could see her, they were pushing her out of her own world.

The sickening feeling of loneliness was pushed to the back of her mind. It wasn't important for now. She hovered around her room distractedly, selecting preferred clothing and accessories to wear, all while her mind thought over the riddle. _Somewhere full of wonders, a circus? A museum of some sort? Big and inviting…. _The answer seemed irritatingly obvious, but Jenny couldn't concentrate, she was experimenting with complementing clothes, holding them up against her body and admiring herself in the same mirror Darien had stared at for a while. Jenny didn't feel completely comfortable dressing in a room that a Shadowman had approached her in, it felt too open, like he was still watching her, but she just didn't have time to dwell on it; she had to see Summer. There was so much Jenny wanted to say to her with so little time to say it in, and so she settled for simple blue denim jeans and a cream sweater before scanning her dresser for make-up.

"I really have to sort this place out!" Jenny thought aloud, tossing useless cartons of this and tubes of that to the side in a frantic rush. Just as she located her mascara and black pencil eyeliner, a shiny gold object became apparent at the bottom of her make-up bag.

"Oh my…" Jenny began to say, reaching down carefully to retrieve it as if in a trance. The golden circlet was still in perfect condition, despite the accumulation of powder from blusher and eye shadow in the corners of her bag. She twirled it between her forefinger and thumb and watched it glisten in the light beguilingly, shifting its milky honey colour to a deeper gold colour when the sun rays hit it at different angles. Jenny tested its familiar weight in her hands, not too light or heavy, perfect weight, and its pleasant warmth sent a current of electricity down her arm. She _needed _that ring, it felt like a comfort to her mourning soul. Jenny wanted it back on her finger, and as she slipped it on, she could feel a little of the wild and exciting Jenny flood back into her system. All her strength transferred into one tiny ring.

"There you are." Jenny smiled, feeling a portion of the cloud in her mind that had been confusing her thoughts to think straight fizzle away as she admired its beauty and finished her make-up. With one last doubtful scan of her face and clothes in the mirror, she made her way downstairs.

"Mother, I'm going out." Jenny called into the kitchen. Mrs Thornton almost immediately immerged from the kitchen door, holding a pan in one hand and cleaning it with a blue cloth in the other. Her glossy chestnut hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she wore a classic white housewife apron around her waist,

"Are you now? And where might my stay-at-home-all-the-time-and-play-with-animals Jenny be going to?" Mrs Thornton had made her disappointment in Jenny's social deterioration and her own disgust for animal's very clear over the past few months, but Jenny ignored it, returning her mother's false smile with her own.

"I'm going into town to see Summer." Mrs Thornton's eyes lit up. She loved innocent little Summer, and Jenny assumed she liked her even more now that she could be the key back into Jenny's life.

"Oh, that's great! I do hope you have fun Jenny!" Mrs Thornton beamed at her daughter, presenting her relief in its fullest. Jenny's own fake attitude slipped away, and she turned and reached for the front door's handle.

"Jenny." Mrs Thornton sounded hesitant, causing Jenny to mechanically turn to respond her mother.

"I really am glad you're getting back in touch with your friends, it's such a shame what happened with you and Tom, and I would hate for you to lose touch with everybody because of it." Jenny's heart sunk slightly. If only the problem had been her and Tom, then things might not have been so unearthly complicated. Joey walked in at this point, and Mrs Thornton snapped out of her heart to heart talk to resume her motherly role.

"Have a good day in town, love." She said before walking back into the kitchen, and Jenny heard the muffled sound of sizzling from the other side of the door.

"Oh, if you're going into town, get me some batteries." Joey demanded without looking up. His honey golden hair was ruffled and untouched, and he wore a creased blue t-shirt and black jogging bottoms. He slumped himself on the sofa, playing with his game boy in one hand and stroking Cosette with the other. Jenny smiled at her little brother, disregarding his rudeness as typical hormonal behaviour.

"I'll see what I can do." Jenny replied, and without looking back, she pulled the door open and walked through it, letting the door slam behind her.

Jenny looked around nervously, her eyes rapidly moving and locking onto to passers-by that caught her attention; one old stooped man holding a walking stick struggled around pedestrians, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief from his pocket before collapsing onto an empty bench. The man looked just as distressed as Jenny felt, and she wanted to go over to him and pull him and herself from the chaos. An equally distressed red-haired woman, who seemed to resemble Audrey slightly, was pushing her two small children through the crowd. She was walking hurriedly in her shiny blue heels, checking her watch urgently and pushing the irritable children along with poor encouragement. Eventually Jenny would lose sight of these people, consumed quickly by the movement of the people in front and all around her and Jenny would feel alone and trapped again. She attempted another deep inhale and exhale cycle to calm her senses, but breathing didn't seem to be helping much.

"Jenny!" she turned abruptly to find a small girl with blond ringlet curls behind her, dressed in a pretty black dress with an electric blue belt. The cyberpunk style was still a shock to Jenny. Summer threw her arms around her friend, hugging her supportively. "I'm so glad you made it!"

"Yeah, I'm here." Jenny sighed, closing her eyes to block out the people surrounding her. Summer was with her now, so she could relax a little. Summer pulled away slightly, eyeing her friend before proceeding to talk.

"I love your sweater, it's so you!" She exclaimed, a sweet smile forming on her lips. Jenny smiled back uncomfortably, suddenly becoming conscious of how rushed her dressing routine had been that morning.

"Er, thanks." She finally said, looking down at her sweater a little shyly. This made Summer laugh.

"You look a little edgy, do you want to get to somewhere more quiet?" Jenny stifled a mad laugh. There was nothing more that she wanted than to get out of the chaos, and swallowing hard, she nodded to Summer, who led her through the crowds cautiously as if she were the fragile child or old crippling man with a walking stick.

"It's okay Summer, I can walk!" Jenny called over the overwhelming conversation. Summer said something Jenny couldn't hear, but nevertheless continued to drag Jenny through the crowds until they reached a small clearing between the busy town and edge of the market place. Summer pointed to the little Starbucks shop, and Jenny followed unquestioningly. Jenny searched for an available table while Summer ordered their coffees.

Outside of the chaos, the atmosphere was lively and interesting, with friendly conversation and hard bargains taking place in outskirts of the market. A large crowd of people were still flooding the streets, pushing past one another with their electronic walkmans and mobiles working as distractions from all the frantic rushing. Chatter in the coffee shop was fairly muted, and the sun partly blocked by tall buildings in front of the shop allowed a small amount of warmth to spread through the town while giving plenty of shady spots to relax in. Jenny sat back in the cushioned chair and let her eyes close; she could smell the sweet aroma of coffee and cake from other people's tables, and the distant sound of cars and conversation was quiet enough to enjoy. She could breathe steadily again.

"So, do you still speak to anyone?" Summer asked as she approached the table. Jenny noticed Summer had a leathery black handbag slung on her shoulder that she hadn't seen before which enhanced Summer's cyberpunk look. She straightened up in her chair.

"Not a single person, everyone is either working their butts off, or going to college at the moment." Jenny took the coffee gratefully, letting the heat from the cup sink into the skin of her hands for a while. Summer nodded in agreement while taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, it's certainly been the barrier this year, education." She clicked her tongue, staring into nothingness for a few seconds while she remembered the old days, "Did you know that Dee is actually studying ICT after everything?"

Jenny smiled knowingly, "Looks like Julian got to her in that sense. She has such a different outcome for her future now. Aba would be proud." Jenny missed Aba, she had attended her funeral a few months ago, and the pain had been unbearable. Jenny had loved Dee's grandmother like she was her own flesh and blood, and now she'd lost yet another important person in her life. _Nothing dies as long as it's not forgotten, _Julian's words were the only reassurance of such a loss to her world.

"And Michael is studying Mythology, of all things. Julian sparked his interest in the Norse gods and runes and stuff." Summer was animated, listing all of the changes her friends had undergone while Jenny had been pushed out of their lives.

"Are you still in touch with all of them?" Jenny asked quietly. She didn't want to find out that she was the only one that no longer spoke to any of her old friends.

"Not everyone. I sometimes talk to Audrey, but she is always so busy these days, and Zach spoke to Tom a while ago about some girl…" Summer was drifting off into a long explanation, but Jenny had already lost her ability to concentrate. She suddenly felt a twang of jealousy from Summer, who had been able to speak to her best friend Audrey when she could no longer reach her. _No, _Jenny snapped at herself, _this is your fault for not keeping in touch, don't put this on Summer! _

"You seem distracted Jenny." Summer said finally. Jenny shook her head, realising with embarrassment that she had basically drifted off into her own little world.

"I'm so sorry Summer, I haven't been sleeping well lately…" Jenny felt apologetic, but little excuse was needed, Summer moved to the seat next to Jenny and held her hand.

"I know this is still hard for you, Jenny. You watched Julian die, and that's never going to be easy to push to the back of your mind." Summer explained, noticing the gold ring on Jenny's finger. When Jenny didn't flinch away with humiliation, Summer spoke again.

"You miss him don't you?" It didn't seem like a question. It was more of an acknowledgement, and she couldn't deny that his death had left a hole in her heart. The part that he had brought out in her felt broken, and without that strong, confident side, she was just corrupted and lost. Jenny took another deep breath and looked into her friend's worried eyes, taking a quick swig of her coffee and clearing her throat.

"It's not over, Summer. Julian is trapped, and I need to save him." She watched Summer's expression change into confusion, and proceeded to pull the riddle out of her pocket and hand it to Summer.

"We need to play another game." Jenny sat patiently. The words came out stale and diffident, but now the secret was out she felt stronger. The stress was now shared, and no matter the reaction Jenny could rely on some kind of feedback from a friend. Summer read over the words a few times, then looked up at Jenny with total mystification.

"What do we have to do?" She asked, handing back the riddle politely. Jenny took it and played with the edges of it while she spoke.

"Well, it's like a hunt I guess, we solve the riddle to find out the first clue, and so on."

"Who is doing this if Julian is trapped?" The most important question arose, and Jenny felt a little brainless for forgetting such a vital piece of information.

"There's another Shadowman in his place, he calls himself Darien. He….visited me a few nights ago." The strange dream-like memory made its way back into the centre of Jenny's thoughts, and she remembered his dark black hair, slender body, bright green eyes…..

"This is crazy." Summer squealed, slumping back into her chair and rubbing her temples restlessly with both hands. Jenny didn't know how to react to this, so she watched Summer, still patiently waiting for a verbal response, and took another long swig of her coffee. Summer locked her gaze with Jenny, and suddenly sighed very heavily.

"Have you solved the riddle at all?" she asked. Jenny bowed her head guiltily, looking down at the worn piece of paper.

"No, it doesn't sound like any place I've ever been to, and I can't really think of a forgotten space." They both looked at each other, hoping to spark spontaneous inspiration by relaxing theirs brains for a second or two. After a few minutes, Summer sat up.

"An alleyway perhaps? One that is long and empty, like, lost from civilisation?" Jenny considered this; Julian had once taken her into his in-between world in the alleyway of Montevideo, so there was every possibility that Summer could be right.

"Perhaps, we should go and have a look around." Jenny suggested, and Summer's eyes glittered.

"A good old adventure! I'll just call Zach and let him know I might be a little late." Summer reached for her mobile in her bag, and Jenny was just about to suggest they go see him together when something distracted her. A glow in the distance, a bright red light that shone clear as day from behind Summer's head. Jenny eyed its location, and to her shock found it had emitted from a piece of graffiti on the wall connecting to a tall grey building, standing tall and defiant. The graffiti was a large symbol, an inverted U with one of its points lower than the other, sprayed in bright red paint on the wall for the world to see. Uruz.

"Oh God." Jenny whispered. Summer looked up at Jenny expectantly then followed her gaze to the big Rune painted onto the wall. They both stood up slowly, realization taking over all other thoughts.

Whatever or wherever the riddle was leading them to; it was closer than they'd originally thought.

"No need to look down some creepy alleyway now." Summer stated in their awkward silence while returning her mobile to its place in her bag. They were both standing limply at their corners of the table, overwhelmed by fear and curiosity.

"Has that been there the whole time?" Jenny wondered, not realizing that her words had been spoken aloud. She thought she'd been more vigilant lately, so how could she miss something so obvious? Summer sensed her concern.

"Jenny, you wouldn't have thought to find our first clue in graffiti form sitting right in front of our very eyes, it's not your fault." Summer gestured to the wall opposite them, emphasising how ludicrous the thought truly was, but still, Jenny frowned. She'd even told herself that it could be so irritatingly obvious not an hour ago, she should have expected it. Once again, silence fell among the girls, leaving only the outdoor ambiance ringing in Jenny's ears. She didn't know what to make of the sign at first glance; she noted that the rune had first appeared in her life on the inside of a board game cover, and Julian had used it to pierce the veil between the worlds. So that must mean….

"It's a door." Jenny breathed, the pieces of her mad and mixed up puzzle thankfully fitting into place. Summer eventually understood too, her sweet china blue eyes growing wide with dread, then fizzling into a perplexed expression.

"But it's a wall." She pointed out, giving it a doubtful glance before raising an eyebrow at Jenny. The facial expression was so unlike Summer that it make Jenny smile reflexively.

"But nothing. I got into Julian's game store through a painted door, Summer, I'm pretty sure anything is possible when it comes to the Shadow men." Summer looked at her for a few seconds, and Jenny could tell that Summer didn't want to believe it. After all, Summer had been the victim of this magic, which had both claimed and returned her during the last few games, and most likely scarred her in ways that Jenny couldn't begin to imagine. This was as personal to her friends as it was to Jenny now.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" Jenny skilfully dodged her seat, winding herself towards a patch of clear pavement and waiting for Summer to do the same. When they were both on the outskirts of the coffee shop, the skin of their forearms lightly brushing against one another, they made their way towards the wall.

Upon closer inspection, the wall didn't seem anymore interesting; the individual bricks were an old faded looking brown colour, and were covered in distasteful remarks and rough signatures that didn't seem to be of any interest. The rune took up a lot of space on the wall, framing it in a bright solid red; it would have taken someone tall with a lot of patience to paint the rune, yet no passers-by seemed take an interest in it. The wall was completely ignored by everyone except Summer and Jenny, and they were even avoiding the space around the wall, like the wall didn't exist. Jenny watched in horrified fascination as people absentmindedly avoided walking into her then steer away entirely as if in a trance.

"Something feels really wrong here." Summer whispered suddenly. Jenny turned to find her fragile Summer back, clutching each of her elbows tightly with her hands. She looked vulnerable, troubled, and Jenny couldn't help but wrap her arms around the small girl protectively.

"We have to keep looking, the sooner we get this over with, the better." Her golden hair was blowing in front of her face in a sudden surge of wind, and as she adjusted the heavy strands behind her ear, she noticed the wall turned off onto the market place square.

"I think we should follow the wall around the corner, maybe we'll find another clue around there." She was already moving before her sentence was finished, pulling Summer along with her supportively. The market was heaving with people now, and it seemed that space to observe wasn't going to be easy to find here. Jenny squeezed through a large crowd blocking her way around the corner, and kept doing so until she could locate a patch of the brick wall. The tiny spot was painted elaborately, and within seconds Jenny identified it as a stony path.

"It's a mural!" Jenny called to Summer. The level of noise from every angle was muffling Jenny's voice, and Summer strained to hear Jenny's calls. After several tries, Jenny decided hand gestures would work better, and pointed Summer in the direction of the mural. _I need to get closer _she thought to herself, contemplating the best way to get to it without being pulled apart from Summer by the crowds. Summer hadn't considered this, and was already weaving her way towards the wall.

"Summer!" Jenny yelled, knowing that Summer would not hear but still hoping she would look back. She didn't. _You can't lose her again _Jenny snapped to herself, urging her legs to also move towards the wall. She searched for a shock of blond ringlets among the crowds, but Summer was no where to be seen, and in no time at all Jenny had made it to the wall without her friend.

"Where are you Summer?" Jenny's cries were becoming more frantic, more insane. She couldn't lose Summer again, the first time it had been her fault and she still hadn't lived the guilt down. She'd sworn to never let anything bad happen to Summer again, and now her terrible past was replaying itself.

_Jenny. _A faint whisper sounded in Jenny's ear. It seemed both distant and near, like it was spoken by someone directly next to her but too quietly to be that close. She felt her body tensing; the voice was familiar, wind over metal, it sent a shivery sensation down her spine. _Jennyyyyyyy. _It spoke again, this time louder, more insistent. Jenny turned to the wall, and realized she could make out the mural perfectly; a cobble stone street with 19th century buildings either side. Its minor details were so flawless and life-like, she could almost touch it….

She reached out a hand and, in her mesmerized state, touched the wall of the nearest shop.

And then it happened.

The noise around her ceased; all customers and pedestrians had disappeared. Jenny was no longer in the market place with its busy concrete roads and few shops around the corner, and instead her feet were planted onto a cobble stone path, with her hand gently resting against the stony wall of an ancient looking shop. She pulled her hand back as if the wall were scorching fire, and disbelievingly turned to absorb her new surroundings; either side of her were never ending rows of shops, stretching on forever any way she looked, with old fashioned street fire lanterns scattered along the streets at an equal distance. It was like she had been edited into a sepia photograph of a Victorian street.

"Summer?" Jenny's voice called meekly. The silence was deadly, and it almost felt wrong for Jenny to break it with such a pathetic cry. There was no one around, not a single living, or dead, thing, and the endless shops were void of life. She inspected the displays outside of the shops immediately surrounding her; identifying various china and textile based objects that presented a Union Jack on their surface. The brilliant blue, red and white of the selection had an eerie contrast to the faded colours of the streets.

"This is England…" Jenny gasped the statement torpidly, feeling each hair on the surface of her arms standing alert. It was impossible to spent one minute in LA then end up in a century old street somewhere in England, even in her state of shock it was obviously strange, but she had said it herself not an hour ago; anything is possible when it comes to the Shadow men. She gathered her thoughts and let out a breath that she was unaware she'd been holding.

Jenny started down the street, hoping she would find a door or something leading her to where she needed to be. The street was quite beautiful despite it's dull, greyish theme, and she imagined this place would be an ideal location for Zach to take photos; he would marvel at its simplicity, or become fascinated by its loneliness and how desolate it seemed.

Desolate. Forgotten space. Just like the clue had hinted.

_Jennnyyyyyyyyyyy. _The call was louder this time, it seemed to echo through the streets, becoming quieter with every repetition. Jenny continued to walk forward, heading in the direction she believed it to have come from. She reached a dead end, as the streets were cut off by a large and striking building that Jenny couldn't help but marvel at. Its exterior walls were a faded rustic red colour, but adorned with intricate stone carvings of toys and sweets. Its big blue doors were wide open, yet revealed only darkness within it. Jenny sensed the voice had come from there, and swallowed hard. _Big and inviting, yet so out of place. _Despite the aura of danger the building surged through her senses, Jenny found her legs being pulled towards it, one painfully slow step after the other.

"Oh God." Jenny breathed, attempting to compose herself once again with a steady breathing cycle. As she reached the door, she took one moment before stepping into the darkness.

As she entered, her sight was rendered useless. The entire building was dark and the air was heavy, as if the outside street she had just exited didn't touch this place. She felt exposed to the creatures that lurked in the shadows, powerless to fight them, and without thinking, she wrapped her arms around her body and bowed her head as if such an action would protect her. She wouldn't dare talk, wouldn't dare _breath, _this territory was theirs, and she was their feeble prey. Jenny stood anxiously in her spot as the doors closed behind her, and she attempted to once again regain control of her nerves without success. Her heart beat raced from within her chest, and she began to shake as the minutes ticked by with no sounds or movements. _Summer, where are you? _Jenny's mind questioned pathetically.

Then light flooded into Jenny's eyes, temporarily blinding her and jolting her backwards. The change was too quick, too extreme, and helpless Jenny fell to the floor with an audible thud. The intense lighting soon lowered to a dim yellow glow, enough for Jenny to observe her surroundings. The floor was a smooth white marble tinted yellow from the light, and the room was large and wide. Each wall had endless rows of shelves, displaying games similar to the ones in Julian's More Games store, only these were in very poor condition; covered in dust and assembled untidily. In the distance, Jenny recognised the ancient looking tills from Julian's odd store sitting on five parallel rows of counters, abandoned just like the rest of the store. The whole atmosphere of the building seemed dangerous and gloomy, making the view even more terrifying than blinding darkness. She slowly rose from the ground, resuming her useless protective position.

"Jenny." The hushed yet unrelenting voice was very close to her now, and Jenny turned to see Darien lent coolly against the wall behind her, where the big blue doors had been before. He was smiling arrogantly, with his white teeth flashing dangerously at her in the poor lighting, and intense green eyes looking into her own darker green eyes with amused satisfaction. Jenny had never felt more like prey then she did then, but couldn't tear her gaze away from his. It was almost mesmerizing. Darien laughed forebodingly, tilting his head while continuing to stare at Jenny.

"Welcome to the game." He whispered harshly.

NOTE: firstly, I noticed recently that in the book Jenny calls him Grandpa Evenson, so calling him grandfather in the first one sounds weird now but oh well. Same might apply for Mrs Thornton being called mother, but that's just how it will work in my story cos obviously Jenny is now upper class for some reason xD

Secondly, I may have accidently made Joey a bit older than he is, as in my fanfic he is hinted to be of pre-teen age so 11-13 years old, but I did that because it feels right for my story, so don't kill me! And lastly, the technology, I've tried making it all nineties so that it will blend into L.'s setting, but if it turns out that stuff didn't exist back then, just ignore it, it's not important

Reviews are very helpful for me, and I love reading what you guys think, so keep it up!


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay I need to stop having such long gaps between my entries, I love writing this book and stalling does no good! Thank you to everyone who reads this and reviews, you are all just so damn cool, give yourselves a pat on the back from me! So, here, I am trying to start portraying my Darien, he is going to be a little more sinister than Julian, I hope you guys like him! Darien belongs to be, the rest belong to L., lucky woman…..**

Chapter 5

Darien stood looking at Jenny patiently, while she stared back at him in horrified shock. She'd known it would be him tormenting her, but she hadn't prepared to see him this close to her again. He was dressed in an extraordinary gothic ringmaster outfit; simple black leggings tucked into leather prim boots and an elegant black dinner jacket with tuxedo tails trailing down to his ankles on top of a high collared stripy grey shirt and black bow tie. He held an expensive looking top hat in his hands, and Jenny noticed he even wore white gloves to finish off the ringmaster style. His eyes were practically glowing green, heavy strands of jet black hair fell lazily into his eyes, partially masking them. He continued to smile at her, and she could tell from his expression that he was enjoying her reaction to his presence.

Darien shifted his position quickly, straightening up from the wall and holding his hands in the air either side of his body in an open, welcoming gesture. Jenny reflexively moved back a step.

"Do you like my toy store, Jenny?" his tone was polite, courteous, with a hint of overconfidence. He looked around the room proudly before resting his eyes back on Jenny and placing the top hat on his head.

"What have you done with Summer?" she asked him nervously. Her voice was a little croaky and weak; she knew already that in this state, she was no match for the playful Shadow man. He dropped his hands to his side like a dramatically stroppy child before folding them to his chest.

"The same thing I've done with all your friends." He started to walk to her left, taking each step slowly like a stalking predator. Jenny shifted uncomfortably, holding her right arm in her hand limply, "I've put her in your game." He was walking behind her now, she felt his eyes still fixated on her, watching her reaction to his every word, and it took a while for Jenny to realise he was circling her.

"How do I get to them?" she followed his movements, knowing that having her back to him could result in life threatening consequences. He saw the fear in her eyes, and started to walk towards her with his hands formally entwined behind his back.

"Play the game, of course." He stated enthusiastically, studying her face with genuine curiosity. She had gathered that much already, but held back a sarcastic remark to avoid another mood swing; this one was terrifying enough.

"I'll start you off with a little riddle, and once I have told you, there's a door this way that will start you off." He twisted his body sideways and motioned towards a door Jenny hadn't seen before in the corner of the store. It was bright blue like the other one, and its intense colour stood out so vividly from the dullness of the toy store that Jenny assumed it had only just appeared.

"Now close your eyes, and let your mind take in what I am about to say." He ordered gently, slipping behind her to whisper in her ear. Jenny allowed this unconsciously, somehow sensing that he wouldn't hurt her. Yet.

"We learn very quickly, but live to obey,

You use us to function in life everyday,

Our task is to get you, completion's our drive,

So shut off our power, to come out alive."

His whisper echoed and entranced Jenny, so that her mind was entirely focused on his words. When he had finished talking, she opened her eyes, and turned to find Darien had disappeared, with a note like the previous one in his place. This note had the riddle written on it in the same black calligraphy with equally damaged edges, and acknowledging its usefulness, Jenny picked it up and headed for the door defiantly. She was determined to get out of this nightmare with as much dignity as possible.

The door opened very slowly without making any sound. It let Jenny into a room that had no light in it at all, just as the toy store had been completely dark. She stepped inside and allowed the door to close behind her, watching as each part of the room lit up consecutively with square lights that covered both the ceiling and floor, starting from where she was standing and ending on the other side of the room. They emitted a white glow which allowed Jenny to catch sight of a heavy metal door on the far side of the room. The walls looked like they were made of metal too, with an odd rectangular pattern repeating all around the room's four dimensions. A marquee screen attached to the ceiling repeated the words GROUND LEVEL-GADGETS in thick red digital script, indicating the nature of her task. As far as she could tell, no other objects were in the room, just the door opposite her.

Jenny tested the strange environment, taking a few steps forward, all the while looking around her for signs of movement. As she reached the middle, she froze. A buzzing sound started filling the room, muted but high pitched, and Jenny watched in fascination as a compartment opened in the door, revealing a series of buttons and a lever. A control panel, she easily recognised it, and solved the riddle instantly. She had to shut something down, some kind of electric device. But there was nothing to turn off. Jenny turned around with complete incomprehension, and then the walls started to move. They were _moving, _some sliding upwards into a hidden space in the ceiling, some sliding across into other parts of the wall. All the strange patterns were creases where the walls would slip into each other, eventually getting so small that there was no wall, nothing to hold the ceiling up, and Jenny was encircled in total darkness again, regardless of the lights above and below her. She heard nothing, saw nothing, and couldn't move for fear of sparking danger.

Then Jenny saw movement. It came from the corner of her eye, and she turned abruptly to look in that direction. She wanted to speak, to tell whatever was out there to go away, but her speech was caught in her throat, she knew words would not help her. Her mind was screaming, _get to the control panel, and turn whatever is there off before it can get you_, even though she knew one small movement would trigger the attack. The control panel was so far away, the room was wider than she remembered, but her mind continued to urge her to act, and so without another thought she turned towards the door, readying herself for a sprint. It was too late. The machines stepped out of the darkness, moving quickly on wheels, robotic legs, fast and deafening. The army of machines raced toward her and instantly blocked the control panel from her view to defend themselves. Jenny could see how diverse and strange they were, robots created from what seemed like ordinary household devices. The one in front of her was small, up to her waist, and had a microwave for a head, which had its light on and made a familiar buzzing sound. It had an electric drill in the place of an arm, and was drilling dangerously close to her right leg. Another robot to her right had a computer as its body, expressing murderous threats to her verbally in a monotone voice. Its legs and arms were metal prosthetic limbs that moved rigidly but fast, approaching her quickly and seizing her right arm. Jenny writhed in its grip, pushing a machine with a CD player for a head to the floor and wincing at the sound of upbeat pop music dying and slowing from impact. It sounded distorted and eerie, but was quickly drowned out by the sound of other machines. She screamed as the drill made contact with her thigh and buried into her skin, kicking out with the other leg to knock it to the floor. She was pushing and nudging and kicking, trying out several defensive moves that Dee had taught her to get space from the machines, but to her horror they repaired quickly and returned to try again. _GET TO THE CONTROL PANEL_ her mind screamed again, and she looked up desperately through the crowd of robotic devices to see it a short distance away from her. They were still attacking recklessly, some beating her with heavy objects that bruised her back and limbs, and sharp objects like knives and building materials that pierced into her skin and drew blood. She was being tortured from all angles, the pain too unbearable to focus on, and she couldn't see any other way but to run for it. She stopped attacking them, looking for a way around them, pushing through possible gaps while they continued to harm her. The microwave machine was back in front of her, trying to drill into her legs from awkward angles, and she saw her chance. Jenny jumped onto the machines head and then over it hurriedly, making an agonising run for the control panel. They followed behind quickly, keeping a hasty speed inches away from her back. She was crying, breathing heavily and uneasily, and upon reaching the control panel, she remembered in terrified shock that she didn't know how to use it. Jenny pressed all of the buttons in a frantic panic, pulling the lever to see if it had an effect on the machines, but they were gathered around her again by the door, still battering her continuously. There was a new machine clawing at her legs with a small rake-like object, causing Jenny to shriek and push it backwards with her other leg. She tried to focus on the buttons, only noticing then that they had letters on them. Through her pain, she went through the seven letters displayed to her. RDEIRED. It meant nothing until she looked at the small print under the buttons: which of your friend's names can be spelt with these letters?

Jenny shakily typed in DIERDRE, and the machines stopped. The beating, the clawing, the drilling, all ceased behind her, and she collapsed to the floor in grief. The pain was now excruciating, every inch of her ached and bled, she held herself in a ball on the floor and wept. She could hear the sound of soft movement, assuming the machines were going somewhere, and turned long enough to see that they were being returned into the darkness, shut down and unmoving, like a ghost was ushering them back to shelter. Jenny looked back at the door, still crying, and heard a click as the door started to slide to the left. As soon as it had opened, a tall, dark skinned girl rushed up to Jenny, wrapping two slender arms around her tightly.

"Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry, I wanted to help I just couldn't get to you!" Dee was rambling, something she didn't usually do. Her words were full of guilt, anger, pain, and her strength was a little too overwhelming for Jenny in such a bad state.

"Dee, that hurts…" Jenny managed to breath, and almost mechanically Dee let go of Jenny and backed away slightly to look into her eyes. Her strong, fearless friend still looked as beautiful as ever; her black hair wasn't as cropped to her head as it used to be, she seemed to have grown it out a bit since Jenny had last seen her so that it was more of a short pixie cut style. She sported black half length jeans and a plain white tank top, half soaked with sweat, but still looked like typical tough girl Dierdre Eliade, and Jenny was more than relieved to see her. She hugged Dee with another wave of tears, burrowing into her shoulder to try and control her sorrow.

"Jenny, I'm so sorry," Dee repeated softly, "he wouldn't let me in." she was rocking Jenny, trying to calm her down, stroking her tousled hair encouragingly. Jenny was in uncontrollable fits, every last ounce of pain and rage flooding out of her system.

"He knew that the only thing worse than having to fight technology for me, would be to watch you suffer without being able to kick ass by your side." Dee mumbled as Jenny started to sniffle back tears. She looked ashamed, but defiant; having Jenny in her protective care was a lot easier to handle.

"Is he here?" Jenny whispered, as if Darien would not be able to hear. Dee's gaze seemed to look passed Jenny's head, and she knew without having to turn that Darien was there.

"Yeah, I'm here, nice leg action Jenny." She finally turned to look him in the eye, noticing that he was holding the rune stave again, twirling it in his hands. He was dressed more casually this time in a black long sleeved top with buckles on the arms and a grey skull design printed on the front. Around this design were small silver paper clip and zip patterns, and he wore skinny black jeans again with a heavy looking chain weighing down one side.

"I assume those moves were from our karate kid over there." He lazily gestured to Dee, who reacted by rising from her spot. Jenny did the same, but held Dee's arm hoping to control her.

"Jenny is stronger than you think she is." Dee spat with acidic hatred, but Darien only laughed lightly at her abhorrence.

"Well, I will immensely enjoy watching this strength take hold during the next few levels." Darien was avoiding any eye contact with Dee, focusing all of his attention on Jenny. She looked back uncomfortably through tear-stained eyes, knowing that back-chat would only prolong the torturous experience.

"Give us our next clue." Jenny whispered sorely, her throat stinging from her lament. Darien continued to bury into her eyes, deep into the core of her soul. Julian's blue eyes had once done this, charming her from the inside and melting her heart into a liquefied mess; but Darien's stare didn't charm her at all, it was a difference kind of look; his iridescent green eyes seemed to haunt her, imprinting fear onto every inch of her soul. Julian may have been the prince of darkness, but Darien was the king.

"Please?" he asked contemptuously, flashing her a sweet smile that didn't match the deadly stare. She looked at him for a moment longer, and could feel Dee's eyes watching her reactions too, anticipating her next move. She assumed Dee would expect her to say something smart and bold, but Jenny wasn't prepared to challenge Darien.

"Please." Jenny murmured edgily, looking down with defeated indignity to her battered jeans with the cuts and stains of blood on them.

Darien's eyes moved to the stave in his hands, pondering over Jenny's request, and then finally looked at Dee.

"Of course you can." He spoke the words vivaciously, wandering over to Jenny while his gaze stayed fixated with Dee's, almost testing her reaction.

"We'll talk later on in the game, that way I will have more of an audience." His smile was venomous, now fitting his eyes and voice perfectly, and twirling the stave in his hands one last time, his green eyes moved back to Jenny.

"A monster from stories no child shall forget,

I come when they're naughty to make them regret,

The ravenous monster, that feeds on your fear

As long as I scare you, I won't disappear."

This time, Darien spoke the riddle in front of Jenny with her eyes wide open, yet the echo still surrounded her as he spoke. She watched as the words left his lips, daring, rhythmic verses that captivated her attention without difficulty, and as he pronounced the last letter, his body was halfway through fading into the nearby shadow, so that he was still visible yet transparent. She wanted to move forward and feel the almost dust like remains of Darien's physical form, but her mind was trying to process the sight she had just witnessed; Julian had never disappeared that way. The next clue popped into existence where he had stood, floating to the floor gracefully like a feather. Dee moved forward to pick it up and inspect it, before looking up at Jenny tentatively.

"What do we do now?" Dee asked, straightening her long lean legs as she rose from her crouched position. Her eyebrows were two decisive brush strokes, and eyes were like burnt umber with a glint of gold in the centre of them. Jenny sighed exhaustedly; already this game had battered her enough to feel vulnerable, but her friends needed her. Julian needed her.

"We find a door." She answered with a determination only fuelled by her desire to get out of the chaos, "And then we fight for our lives. Simple."

**HOPE YOU LIKED IT! REVIEW IF YOU DID **


	6. Chapter 6

**This took a little less time than the others chapters to look over, but it's still very long so once again I'm very sorry. I aimed to show a little more of Darien's nature in this chapter, so I really hope you like him, tell me what you think! **

Chapter 6

"Have you noticed that doors have become significantly more threatening since we found out about the shadow world?" Dee chuckled, feeling the walls of the hall that she and Jenny were now stuck in. They'd found a door in the storage room Darien had locked Dee in, which led to the endless hall where they both stood.

"This reminds me of that long passage way in the labyrinth." Jenny looked around the hallway; noticing that each end really did stretch a very long way; eternal, everlasting routes. Dee laughed a little roughly, and Jenny could have sworn she saw panic in Dee's eyes.

"Yeah, a bit." She looked either side of her, grinning wildly before turning to rest her eyes on Jenny.

"I miss you." The confession was silent, and sounded a little reluctant. Dee hadn't talked to Jenny for what seemed like forever, and having a hearty connection didn't come naturally to the two childhood friends anymore. Jenny managed a smile and fought back her grateful tears.

"I miss you too Dierdre Eliade." She was about to lean in to hug Dee, when a creaky noise sounded from her right. They both turned to find the exit to the hall was now rather close, and the white wooden door was slightly ajar with a small amount of moonlight seeping through. A sign on the door in thick black writing read: LEVEL 2: STORIES

"More like house of horrors now." Dee muttered quietly, breaking the deadly silence with her harsh voice. The girls gave each other a look, one they had once shared when in the Victorian house; the preparation look.

"You open, I kick ass?" Dee offered, a devious smile forming on her lips, and Jenny nodded readily.

Dee stood in front of the door, bracing herself to detain whatever lurked inside the room, and Jenny lent a sturdy hand on the edge of the door, waiting for Dee's signal.

"Now!" Dee whispered sharply, and Jenny pushed the door open and watched. Nothing happened.

"Michael!" Dee's voice became breathless, and she rushed into the room to hug him, "I've never been so glad to see you in my life pal!" Jenny followed Dee in, looking around the room as she moved. It was a bedroom dimly lit by the incoming moonlight, and from the basic décor and endless rows of teddies on the nearby shelf, Jenny assumed this room belonged to a small child.

"Thanks, Dee." Michael choked under Dee's strength, and as she pulled away he composed himself. Michael Cohen wasn't the same scruffy adolescent he used to be; he wore a creaseless green sweater with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and neat blue jeans over simple white sneakers. His hair was slightly ruffled, probably from a little anxiety, and his liquid spaniel eyes still remained as adorable as ever, but Michael looked older now, and more responsible. Jenny walked up to Michael sheepishly, also giving him a warm hug.

"What's going on?" a familiar voice called from within the shadows, and Jenny moved in closer to find Audrey curled up into a ball in the corner of the room, her auburn hair in her usual French twist and chestnut eyes framed by perfectly applied coats of mascara. Her arms were wrapped around a smallish girl, who seemed to be sobbing into Audrey's black blouse.

"We're in another game, with a different Shadow Man." Dee answered bluntly, also leaning over the bed to look at Audrey. Jenny walked around to her friend, kneeling down in front of the crying girl and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong with her?" Jenny asked, her voice soft and full of sadness. The child was crying heavily, breathing very unsteadily and clinging onto Audrey's blouse for dear life.

"I don't know, when we got here she was screaming, she is really scared." Audrey voice was shaky, and she stroked the girl's matted brown hair slowly before looking up at Jenny again, "Oh my, what happened to you?" The pain was still agonising, but Jenny looked down at her torn jeans and blood stained cream sweater as if she'd forgotten. She then looked back up at her friend Audrey, whose own pristine white jeans and black blouse were unaffected.

"Level 1" Jenny answered frankly, watching the confusion stir in her beautiful friend's eyes.

"I couldn't sleep!" The girl raised her head, looking from one girl to the other in horror and talking through quick breaths. Her eyes were light blue, pupils small and eyelids opened wide with fear. Dee and Michael also kneeled down in the corner either side of Jenny, watching the girl sympathetically.

"What do you mean sweetie?" Audrey cooed, lowering her head a little to look the girl in the eye. Another wave of tears rolled down her flushed cheeks.

"I couldn't sleep, and now the monster's coming to get me!" she shrieked, curling further into a ball and pushing her body into the corner. Her accent was slightly southern, a little Spanish sounding, but her words were easy to understand. The girl's eyes were wide with terror, and Jenny couldn't help but feel unnerved by the words; they linked to the new riddle, 'a monster from stories no child shall forget, I come when they're naughty to make them regret'.

"What monster is coming after you?" Michael asked, reaching a hand to Audrey and squeezing reassuringly. Jenny hadn't noticed how fearful Audrey looked.

"El Cucuy." She cried, burying her head in her hands. Dee and Jenny exchanged looks, hoping one another would know what this was, but it was Audrey who answered.

"Sweetie, monsters like El Cucuy and The Bogeyman don't exist, they're just stories." She reassured, trying to gently pry the girl's hands away from her face. Michael was still by Audrey, watching as she attempted to help the girl, but the Dee and Jenny stiffened as their eyes met again; the Erlking had been a legend, a story, but Julian had played the part rather well. What was to stop Darien from playing this monster?

Suddenly, there was a loud bang against the closet, causing the group to back up against the wall.

"He's here!" the girl shrieked, grabbing Jenny and pulling her in front of her body to use as a shield. The four teenagers were surrounding the child, all anticipating what was about to happen as it banged again, and again, and again…..

"Oh my god." Audrey squealed, clutching Michael's sleeve as it banged for a fourth time. The girl's closet was white and wooden, with louvered doors and shiny plastic handles. Despite the repetitive knocks from within, the exterior seemed unharmed; no cracks or broken wood. Jenny squinted, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever hid in the closet through the shutters, and just as she did so, two large glowing red dots appeared from within it. Eyes.

"El Cucuy is here!" the girl screamed again, covering her head with her hands, "Lo siento El Cucuy, lo siento!" Dee started to get up, bending into a defensive stance while Michael joined her.

"I can't believe this!" He grunted a little nervously, holding his hands up ready to react. The child was beside herself screaming and backing up as much as she could against the wall, and Audrey was half consolidating her as she watched the closet. It was now sweltering under the weight of the monster, just like the door had in the paper house. The monster was growling, a gurgling throaty sound that made Jenny shudder, and she could see the eyes shifting to look at each person in the room. Thunder struck outside the girl's window, adding to the nightmarish atmosphere in the room, lightening momentarily revealing the monster's appearance. Its skin was black and scaly, all facial features unclear apart from the eyes and mouth. It seemed to be carrying something long and brown between deformed claws, and grinning to reveal sharp, yellow teeth.

"This can't be happening, it's just a myth!" Audrey gasped over the noise, holding a shaky hand to her head.

"This is a game Audrey, anything can happen!" Dee snapped at her, not daring to look away from the closet. The doors now opened, revealing the monster fully to everyone. The object in its claws was a sack, old and degraded from use, and it eyed the child ravenously, growling again with more force. The monster was edging towards them slowly, enjoying the suspense his presence brought to the room.

"It can't be real it can't be real!" Audrey was screaming louder now as she hugged the girl closer to her. Her word's triggered a thought in Jenny's mind, the riddle said 'as long as I scare you, I won't disappear.', and everyone was petrified.

"As long as we fear it, it can hurt us!" Jenny called over the chaotic screaming, catching Michael and Dee's attention immediately, and Jenny turned to look at the wide eyed girl, "We need to calm her down, and tell her it's not real!"

"But it is real, it's standing right in front of us!" Michael pointed at The Bogeyman almost passing the corner of the bed, holding it's sack up threateningly. It's movements were fluid and snake-like, reminding Jenny slightly of the Creeper.

"It's not real, just trust me!" she turned to Audrey, who had her eyes clamped shut and was humming and whispering to herself. Jenny shook her slightly, "Audrey, what are you singing?"

Audrey looked into Jenny's eyes. She could see her elegant friend's make up was smudged from tears, black mascara trailing down her face and staining her cheeks.

"It's a lullaby by Henry Hall, my mum used to sing it to me as a child when I learnt stories of The Bogeyman!" The monster was now dangerously close to turning the corner of the bed where they were sitting, and time was running out. Jenny turned to look at it quickly, before grasping Audrey's shoulders and looking her directly in the eye.

"Audrey, you need to sing it to the girl, she has to overcome this fear if we're going to survive!" Jenny realised how frantic her voice sounded, and she was grasping onto ever last bit of sanity, knowing that one little slip would result in her tearing her hair out. The monster growled again, inches away from being able to claim his victim. Audrey turned to the girl, lowering her head to the girl's ear, whispering the lullaby softly:

"…_When the shadows of the evening creep across the sky  
>And your Mummy comes upstairs to sing a lullaby<br>Tell her that the bogeyman no longer frightens you  
>Uncle Henry's very kindly told you what to do…" <em>

The words seemed to be helping; the girl had stopped screaming and was now sniffling into Audrey's blouse again, grasping the material tightly in clenched fists. Jenny watched for a while, feeling a little calmer with Audrey's hushed singing in the madness, and then turned to look at the monster. It had his claws out in front of its body now, opening the sack in preparation to snatch the child….

"…_Just pretend he isn't really there  
>You will find that Bogey man will vanish in thin air…"<em>

The Bogeyman was now by Dee, reaching down to grab a mass of her t-shirt and lifting her body into the air with ease. It launched her across the room, so that she landed inside the closet with a terrible crashing sound. Jenny stifled a scream with her hand, stumbling back a little as it turned to look at her with savage red eyes.

"No no no no no!" Michael yelled, guarding Audrey with his body territorially. The remaining youngsters were now pushed up against each other, facing the torment as one, watching as the claw reached out to get Jenny. Then it disappeared.

It just vanished. No flash of lightening, no last growl at his victims. Nothing. The room was quiet again, only filled with the sound of soft sobbing and heavy breathing. Jenny could hear Dee struggling from the other side of the room, and rushed over the bed to check on her.

"Dee! Are you okay?" she cried a little manically, helping her up into a sitting position. As far as she could tell, Dee had landed on a pile of the child's clothes on the floor of the closet, and so she couldn't have been severely injured. Dee rubbed her head dizzily, propping her body up with the other arm. Michael and Audrey were standing up slowly too, each holding one of the girl's hands as they encouraged her to stand up with them.

"It's over now; you don't have to be afraid anymore." Audrey was soothing her in a low, hoarse voice, stroking away the girl's remaining tears. Michael seemed to be sharing a quiet joke with the girl, and she giggled shyly, reaching forward to hug him.

"Gracias señor y señorita." She whispered, and Jenny couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of Audrey and Michael with a small child, comforting her as if she was one of their own.

"They're going to make great parents." Jenny whispered to herself, and Dee looked up at them as well with squinted eyes.

"No doubt about it." She grinned, and Jenny turned to look at Dee with a knowing smile on her face. No matter what her friends were put through, they always came out as a strong unit, and she couldn't help but feel proud to have such incredible friends.

"Your faces were particularly amusing when that banging started." the melodious laughter instantly caught Jenny's attention, and she turned her head to the left to find Darien sitting casually on the girl's chest of drawers, one arm perched on a bent leg, while the other leg hung over the edge of the drawers. He radiated menace, emerald eyes gleaming against the darkness of the room, and was once again dressed from head to toe in black. He wore the leggings and prim leather boots again, this time with a baggy black linen shirt and a long, black furry cloak tied loosely around his neck. Jenny could only describe it as a mixture between a gothic wizard and Robin Hood.

"Who are you?" Michael asked, with confusion painted onto his face. He was standing in front of the little girl and Audrey, and looked so brave staring Darien directly in the eye that Jenny wanted to hug him again. Darien watched him a little pensively, letting his eyes scan the people standing behind Michael before tilting his head innocently.

"Did you know, that in some beliefs, The Bogeyman is a nickname for the devil?" he ignored Michael's question, changing his tone to sound conversational. The five faces watched him, not quite knowing how to deal with his new mood. Darien let silence fall for a few seconds and then continued, "Some say that The Bogeyman scratches at the window, or that he may appear in green fog. In other places, he hides or appears from under the bed or in the closet and tickles children when they go to sleep at night." He shifted his position, letting the other leg fall over the side and resting both elbows on either knee. He interlaced his fingers, leaning forward as if telling little children a scary story, "Different names, different fates, all as sinister as each other. Do you know who invented such stories? Parents." His silky voice was now angry, and he slipped off the chest of drawers, landing effortlessly on the blue-gray rug beneath it, "Parent's who wish to scare their children into behaving, disturbing, is it not?" the question was rhetorical, but Jenny did agree. Scary stories had been used for many generations to discipline children, painting monsters and nightmares into their imaginations that would harm them if they didn't do as their parents told, but little did they know that there were monsters watching their children, and waiting in the darkness to claim them. If they had known, maybe they wouldn't have toyed with such dangerous ideas.

"Human nature is such a sinister thing, sometimes more sinister than all the dark magic in the world." Darien was now walking towards Michael, watching him as if slightly fascinated by his reaction, before letting his eyes wander to the small girl behind him. No one would dare speak, not even the child that knew nothing of the Shadow World. The silence was painful, chilling, and Jenny felt a compelling urge to break it.

"Nothing can be more sinister than the nature of a Shadow Man." She said bitterly, watching as his eyes glared towards her. He approached her in seven strides, leaning up close to her so that their noses were almost touching. The intimacy shocked Jenny, and she could see her own reflection in the green eyes that studied hers.

"Let's play another little game, shall we?" his anger turned to amusement, flashing Jenny a dangerous grin. She swallowed hard and attempted to look away from his gaze without success.

"I like to call this one, Confession. You must all reveal something you have been hiding from each other since you went your separate ways, and if you don't, I shall reveal it for you." Darien reached into his cloak and pulled the stave out, backing away slowly from Jenny and looking at the four teenagers in the room.

"You can go first." He pointed to Dee, who glowered back at him with gritted teeth. She seemed reluctant to speak, which only made Darien grin wider. He waited a few more seconds, before clicking his tongue and sighing.

"Well, I guess I'll have to tell them." He leaned his body forward and bared his shiny white teeth that seemed luminous in the dull room, "Dee misses these games."

Jenny looked at Dee a little sceptically, trying to read her expressions which were unreadable. Dee loved danger; she thrived in challenging situations, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise if that was her shameful secret in Jenny's eyes. Yes, the games threatened her friend's life, and played with their sanity until they were forced to ask where fantasy began and reality ended, but it was the environment that suited her best, and she couldn't help that. Dee continued to look at Darien acrimoniously, refusing to look at her friends while the secret was in the open. Jenny also turned back to eye him expectantly. _Bring it on, _she felt like saying, but decided it was rather inappropriate. Darien seemed disappointed by the reaction, and carefully reassembled his expressions to appear indifferent.

"Okay then, not good enough for you risk takers? I'll give you something deeper…." He wandered over to Michael and Audrey again, looking at each of their faces with sick enjoyment before staring at Michael.

"Michael Cohen practices dark magic." This statement came out in an overly elated tone, and Jenny had a feeling that Darien had been wanting to admit this for some time now. It did shock Jenny; Summer had told her about Michael studying mythology and runes, she had only been half listening, but harmless comedic Michael never came across as the type to practice something so hazardous.

"Despite everything that happened to Mr Eric Evenson, you would expect he would learn…" Darien sounded spiteful, and shot Jenny a look that felt mocking. She locked eyes with Michael, whose shame was fully presented in his spaniel eyes.

"How could you?" Audrey whispered, but still rested a supportive hand on his forearm. Darien laughed menacingly, shifting his gaze from Michael to Audrey. His lime eyes were wild and daring again.

"Don't act so innocent Myers." He eyed her disgustedly, folding his arms in front of his body, "I don't think you've told Michael about your friends Josh, and Adam, and David, and Brandon, and Timothy…" he listed each name slowly with acidic precision.

"STOP!" she yelled, slapping her palm against his cheek. Darien remained unfazed, the slap barely moving his head, and instead he burst into another fit of amused laughter.

"Don't take your promiscuous issues out on me, my dear." He warned, still smirking as he walked away from her. Michael pulled out of Audrey's grip, and the adoration that they had shared 5 minutes ago was now entirely replaced by doubt. Jenny watched nervously as Darien approached her again, head tilted thoughtfully. He knew exactly what he was going to say, and so did she, but she knew he would prolong the shame until he was fully satisfied.

"Jenny is in love with Julian." He blurted out, catching the other youngsters by surprise. Her feelings were obvious; they had all known from that moment in the Tunnel of Love and Despair, when Jenny had back-chatted to Julian and told him that she cared for him. All this time they had known, but there was one difference, and Darien knew it better than any of them; confession. No one had dared admit that there had always been something, the time she had taken his ring, sealed it with a kiss and oath, the time she had been in his cave watching as he revealed his soft side to her, because it was wrong. Two different species, forbidden to share lives, and Jenny desired it more than anything. She felt the other's watching her reaction, and knew they were all thinking the same thing: poor Jenny. She bowed her head disgracefully, and closed her eyes as she remembered Julian in the arcade again, bound by the cruelty of his captivator. Bound by Darien.

"Well, I think my work here is done." Darien now seemed upbeat; wringing his hands together and breaking the dark silence with his melodic voice. He looked at them all again, his bright smile a dramatic contrast from the depression and despair he had brought among the foursome.

"Would you like your next riddle?" he offered, and the question forced Jenny to look up and fight the urge to also hit him around the face. She had feared him all this time, maybe felt curious about his expressions and actions, but right now, Jenny hated him, despised his very existence, and didn't know how to deal with it; she had never hated someone as much as she hated Darien.

"Yes…please." She said the word with great difficulty, her eye twitching as she spat it out. Jenny found that she had to clench her fists to control the longing to lash out at him.

"Very well." He answered, beaming at her to display his full pleasure. There was nothing more he enjoyed than winning, and with such a fearful audience, winning was all too easy for him, "But first, I want the girl." His eyes shifted to the small child half hidden behind Audrey, watching him with juvenile awe.

"Why would you want the girl?" Michael asked slowly. Audrey shut her eyes and allowed a tear to fall down her cheeks before turning to look at the child hugging her torso. Jenny watched in horror; there were so many terrible things Darien could do to the child, that focusing on any one torture could be seen as a little twisted. He laughed again, bending to the child's height and reaching out an inviting hand to her.

"Because I'm very, very hungry." He whispered, saying the perverse words with a contrasting smile to his lips. The child lifted her head from Audrey's hip, almost considering the offer as she eyed his hand.

"Don't touch her!" Audrey snapped, pushing the little girl behind her body, and almost crouching into a defensive position in front of her. Her expressions were different to any that Jenny had seen on her face before; vicious, daring, animal-like snarling, like a protective mammal. Darien watched her mood change dispassionately, his face now much less amused than before.

"You give her to me, or I will pry her from your small, weak hands." He warned, still holding a hand out to the girl. Dee, Jenny and Michael watched their friend, wondering how she would react to the threat. Audrey loved children; she had always been the one to stroll up to babies in their prams and talk to them with the strange baby voice, or offer to babysit Joey or Cam when The Thornton's and Parker-Pearson's were busy. She couldn't possibly give the child over to her death willingly, could she?

Audrey also seemed to be contemplating her next step, knowing that Darien was right, fighting her would be too easy.

"Now." He warned again, flicking his fingers towards his palm as if to say 'come here'. The girl struggled out of Audrey's grip, eyes glued to Darien as if in a trance. The story of the Pied Piper crossed Jenny's mind; children being drawn to something dangerous by something beautiful. Darien was smiling again, almost like a big brother waiting to hug his little sister. Audrey started to scream, pulling the child's arm back to try and save her, but the action was useless; she was now under his control.

"Don't just stand there!" Audrey screamed to Jenny and Dee, who stood in their spot watching the disaster unfold. They had already deemed the situation hopeless, they were no match for pure evil, and as they looked into Audrey's wide eyes, all they could do was shake their heads apologetically.

"Michael!" she cried, turning her head to look at him as the child escaped from her grip. He wrapped his arms around her, restraining her as the little girl linked hands with Darien, and as he stood up slowly.

"Thank you." he smiled at Audrey, watching her writhe in Michael's arms with sick satisfaction before turning to look at Dee and Jenny, who were quiet and hateful in the other corner. Jenny felt like she was in another world to Michael and Audrey, unable to do anything to help them, and bit her lip as her eyes rested on the child by Darien's side, innocently content with her decision to approach him. She wondered if the child understood what Darien meant when he said he was hungry…..

"Here is your next clue," he said, exchanging the stave in his free hand with a small yellow note trapped between his forefinger and middle finger, "I would read it to you, but I'm rather eager to leave you all for now." He looked down at the girl next to him, who also looked up at him with childish fascination.

"Usted va a encantar mi mundo, nieva todos los días." He whispered to her enthusiastically, and the last thing any of them saw was the excitement on the little girl's face before they faded together into the shadows. Audrey screamed louder, collapsing into a ball on the floor and letting the grief take hold, and Michael knelt down by her side to stroke her hair. Dee and Jenny walked forward calmly to where he had been, not quite knowing how to react to the scenario, and looked at the clue together feeling very numb and ashamed of the last 20 minutes of their lives. Dee read it aloud to Jenny, while Audrey continued to cry in the background.

"This place is familiar, you've been here before,

So look passed the basics, no need to explore,

He'll summon the creatures, and freely they'll roam,

So help them escape, they just want to go home."

Dee looked at Jenny uncertainly, handing the note to her so she could also read it over. Jenny carefully read the riddle again and then rose from the floor to look at Audrey, who raised her head to look back at Jenny.

"You just let her go." She whispered, another black tear falling down her cheek. Jenny wanted to say something, to explain that if he hadn't taken the girl, then they would have been the ones who would suffer for it, especially Audrey; but she knew that didn't change anything, she should have at least tried, and for some reason even she couldn't explain, Jenny just accepted it. She has started accepting that sometimes evil triumphs over good, and this only made her feel revengeful. She would _never _let Darien get what he wanted again, his victory ended here.

"I'm sorry Audrey, I'm so sorry." Jenny murmured, bowing her head to stare inattentively at the piece of paper in her hands. The silence dragged on for a while as the four teenagers decided their next move.

"We need to get going guys." Dee said solemnly, looking to each miserable face in the room. Jenny nodded and turned to Michael, who was already helping Audrey up. Their closeness had been tainted by Darien's game, and Jenny bit her tongue watching the awkward exchange of gratitude. They all met in the middle of the room, arranging their appearances quietly.

"I think this is a moment best forgotten." Michael muttered, looking to Audrey and smiling supportively. She smiled back, still wiping the black mascara from under her eyes, and reaching for his hand with her free one. Jenny knew that Audrey was upset by his dangerous pass-time, and that Michael was hurt that she had cheated on him numerous times, but she still admired their maturity in the situation, and she turned to Dee, resting an arm on her shoulder compassionately. Dee smiled back at Jenny thankfully, and without another word, they all made their way towards the door, united once again.

**Sorry for the seriously cheesy ending, I needed to wrap it up which I found strangely difficult to do this time. I did a lot of research on the bogeyman for this, and luckily found that silly, strange lullaby by Henry Hall, if you haven't heard it, look it up on Youtube, it's so weird. Oh and, for anyone who had to suffer through my showing off of Spanish in this chapter, I'll put the translations below.**

"**El Cucuy"- just the Spanish version of the bogeyman.**

"**Lo siento"- generally means I'm sorry, can mean I'm afraid.**

"**Usted va a encantar mi mundo, nieva todos los dias."- ****You'll love my world, it snow's everyday.**


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING: This chapter might be a little confusing due to the selected scene!**

**I'm not too sure about this chapter myself, I tried being clever and don't think it went entirely as I planned, but ooooooh I left you guys a cliff hanger, so let me know what you guys think anyway :)**

Chapter 7

"Did anyone see if the door disappeared in the last level?" Jenny asked, watching her steps as she moved through the dim hallway with her friends. They had come out into the same hallway as before, except the lights on the ceiling were now candles on the walls spread reasonably far apart.

"No, I was too busy watching that creep." Dee mumbled, walking a little faster so that she was by Jenny's side. Audrey and Michael were sauntering slowly behind them. They hadn't said a word since they'd left the room, and the uncomfortable silence didn't seem to be helping anything.

"Can I see those clues, Jenny?" Michael finally spoke, offering a hand out when Jenny retrieved them from her jean pocket. He studied them carefully, and Audrey moved forward to walk with Dee and Jenny.

"So what does that Darien guy want?" she asked, wiping at a mascara stain on her cheek bone. Jenny looked at Dee, who also seemed to be intrigued by her question.

"The piece of wood he was holding is Julian's Runestave. He's kind of punishing Julian using us. Using me." She answered quietly. From the corner of her eye, she could see Dee and Audrey exchanging a quick glance at each other.

"So…. Julian is alive again?" Dee asked hesitantly, arching one of her eyebrows.

"Julian's life is literally in Darien's hands." Jenny hoped this made sense to her friends, because it sure as hell would confuse anyone else, "And I need to play this game to set him free."

"Well, let's hope he appreciates all this effort we're putting in to save him." Audrey sighed, rubbing her face exhaustedly. Jenny relaxed a little at the ease of their conversing, and realised how much she had truly missed her friends. As much as she wanted to say so, she knew that would only spark conversations about how they all went their separate ways and stuff Summer had already filled her in on, so instead she scrambled for another topic of conversation.

"What were you doing before you ended up here?" Jenny asked Audrey, whose cheeks reddened as she turned to glance at Michael over her shoulder.

"Him." She giggled, and the two other girls burst into hushed laughter with her. Michael looked up warily, eyeing the girls in front of him before looking down again at the pieces of paper.

"What about you, Dee?" Jenny leaned forward so she could see her other friend, who was grinning smugly.

"I was in the gym, I'd only just finished my workout, lifting a few weights, running for a bit, and then I collapsed and ended up here." She pulled her white sweat band out of her pocket, waving it around in front of her face to confirm her story. Audrey turned to Jenny, her face more animated now, and smiled.

"And you, sweetie?" she opened her mouth to answer, but Michael interrupted by pushing in between her and Audrey urgently. From the way his eyebrows were pulled together, Jenny could tell he was confused.

"There are weird marks on the back of these riddles." He showed the girls, handing them each a riddle to look at. Jenny hadn't noticed before, but he was right; there were a series of random lines, faintly printed onto the back of them in a dull, hardly noticeable red colour, each one different to the other.

"I figured this game was like a quest when I read the first clue, maybe this is what we have to collect." Jenny inspected the back of the riddle she was holding; there were two lines intersecting each other with fork-like terminals, and in the bottom right corner there was a tiny curve and a line with a smaller fork-like terminal facing north, "What do you think it is?"

"Well….it looks a bit like a bind-rune to me." Michael scratched his head, passing the riddle he was holding to Jenny, while Dee and Audrey look at theirs together, "I recognise this fork pattern from my 'Battle Runes' study. It's ancient stuff." Michael's note looked identical to her own, except the corner didn't bare the small curve and line. Instead, it was empty.

"I wonder what we do with it." Dee asked, her voice almost daring as she looked from Michael to Jenny.

"Well, first, we work out what it does," Michael collected the riddles again and studied them one by one, "But for that, I need a flat surface to lay them all out on."

"Maybe we'll find one in there." Audrey pointed behind Jenny, and they all turned to find a heavy wooden door that could have only recently appeared. _I've been through that door before…_ Jenny thought to herself wonderingly.

"Come on guys, let's go." Michael insisted, flicking his head towards the door. Dee automatically positioned herself in front of it, and Jenny rested her hand on the handle.

"I can't believe you guys still do that." Audrey chuckled. Dee flashed her devious smile before giving Jenny the signal and bracing herself as it opened, but once again, nothing jumped out.

The door opened into a room Jenny remembered all too well. It was lushly carpeted, the floor covered in a wonderful cabbage rose design, with dark wooden panelled walls. A green lamp with a silk fringe hung from the ceiling and the oriental screen and Gothic revival furniture remained in its original positioning, giving the room an atmosphere that Jenny had once believed would be perfect for a séance.

"Déjà vu." Audrey breathed, absorbing the parlour's eerie feel as the door closed behind her. Jenny realised they had entered through the door that should lead into the Victorian house's hallway, and that all seven of the teenagers were lying in their positions on the floor, just where they had been at the start of the first game. Their bodies were ghost-like; translucent but with every detail of their appearance clearly defined.

"This is weird…" Michael whispered, leaning down by his unconscious body that was facing the window framed with heavy velvet curtains and inspecting it.

"Jenny!" Summer ran towards her, throwing her arms around her neck like she had in the busy town. Jenny stood shocked for a few seconds before wrapping her arms around Summer, burying into her blonde curls in relief. They stayed like that for a few seconds, the eyes of her other friends watching their warm embrace.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Jenny cried as she pulled away, noticing that Summer was still wearing the black cyberpunk dress and carrying her leather bag. Summer smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"It's okay, I'm here with Zach." Summer turned to look at him, as did the others. He was standing by the mahogany table awkwardly, hands tucked into pockets and grey eyes clear and nonchalant. Jenny rushed up to her cousin and hugged him, waiting for his response, which came in the form of a light tap on the back. She heard Audrey complimenting Summer's clothing on the other side of the room, and she eventually removed her arms from Zach's neck to look at him. He'd gotten taller since she'd last seen him, so that her head only just about reached his shoulder, and he wore his long blond hair down, which Jenny noticed had been cut shorter. The ends only reached down to his jaw line now, but it suited him; it made him look more masculine. His style hadn't changed; same old stone-washed jeans and pale blue sweater, but somehow he seemed more relaxed, happier.

"It's been ages." Jenny smiled at him warmly. Zach also smiled, tucking his hands back into his pockets.

"Too long." He whispered, before the others joined them by the table. Michael laid the riddles out on the smooth mahogany surface, arranging them into various positions next to one another. Summer stood next to Zach, who put a long arm around her shoulder lovingly.

"How long have our ghost selves been unconscious for?" Audrey asked, stepping over her ghostly body cautiously.

"They appeared a few minutes before you arrived, I think, just kind of fizzled into the room. We were sitting there." Summer gestured to the sofa behind the table. Jenny looked for a moment then turned to see her ghost body facing the oriental screen.

"I wonder if they'll be able to see us." She speculated aloud. Seeing her past self lying limply on the ground in the long creamy skirt and vest with the golden threads only inches away from Tom was strangely unnerving.

"I guess that's something we're gunna have to find out." Dee said, staring at the ceiling and walls with childish fascination.

"I filled Zach in as much as I could, you know, sick twisted game, new Shadow man, everything I could remember at least." Summer looked from Zach to Jenny sweetly, and it was obvious that Summer was content with her contribution to the game so far. When Julian had played with their lives, she had been in Julian's captivity for most of the games, and when she had been around, she'd been too scared to assist in any way, but now, all signs of fear had been replaced by a determined strength in Summer, one that enabled her to smile so sweetly in a time of panic and chaos.

"How do you already know all of that?" Dee looked perplexed, and a little amused, but Summer's good mood was unfazed.

"I was with Jenny before I got here."

"Oh look Jenny, you're waking up." Zach pointed passed Jenny, who watched as her ghost self lifted her head to look at the oriental screen and then continued to scan the room with a look of panic on her face. Her gaze swept over the group standing by the table, apparently unaware of their presence.

"Well, that answers _one _question." Dee chuckled quietly, watching as the ghost Jenny noticed her friends lying on the floor around her. She stood up and walked up to ghost Tom, who was also stirring.

"He was such an asshole to me in this room." Jenny mumbled, and the others turned to look at her in shock. She had never said a bad word about Tom, because once upon a time she had adored him, and back when they'd been dating, she had made many excuses as to why Tom was so arrogant towards her. But now, the blatantly controlling personality was much easier to see and she couldn't understand how she'd been so oblivious to it all. The ghosts were talking quietly in the middle of the room, ghost Jenny holding ghost Tom's hand as he sat up. He was snapping at her, telling her not to be stupid, and Jenny watched sadly as her ghost self winced.

"I always warned you, sweetie." Audrey sighed, crossing her arms as she watched ghost Tom stand up. Jenny couldn't answer to that; she knew Audrey had been right, but love is blind, and back when she loved Tom, his bad moods were a negative she was willing to put up with.

"Oh look, we're all getting up too!" Dee's eyes widened with excitement as the other ghost's stood up, all except for Summer, who crouched into a ball near the leg of the mahogany table whimpering. Although the scene was busy, the ghosts were silent while they looked around, none seeming to notice their future selves standing by the table.

"God, I was so scared." Summer crouched next to her quivering ghost body, hovering a hand above her shoulder. She tried to physically touch her ghost's skin, but something refrained her from doing so, "We can't touch them, how strange…."

"We can't change the natural flow of things." Zach stated, wondering into the centre of the room to watch himself in his crazed state with a pitiful look on his face. The other ghosts were still walking about the room, feeling materials and inspecting objects uncertainly.

"Oh, my God, Oh my God, Oh my _God._" Ghost Summer began to whisper. Summer sighed empathetically, "This is probably when I realised where I was."

Ghost Michael was giggling hysterically, and both Audreys simultaneously snapped shut up at them, while ghost Dee inspected a candlestick and its flame, to ghost Tom's disgust.

"This is where we debated whether it was virtual reality or not!" Audrey recalled enthusiastically, turning to Dee who was following herself around the room.

"Oh yeah!" Dee laughed, watching her ghost self smack a flattened hand against the wall to prove her point.

"What are we supposed to do?" Zach asked, turning to join Summer again by the table. His ghost self was still standing in the same spot, watching the scene in the parlour with total disinterest. Jenny listened to Michael's ghost make a sarcastic remark about Audrey's cooking, and then Tom's ghost snap at him, before answering Zach.

"Well, one thing we don't have to do is explore," Jenny mentally recalled the last riddle, "We're waiting for someone to summon some creatures, I believe."

"The Creeper and the Lurker perhaps?" Summer suggested, "Maybe we're waiting for a shadow man to summon them?" Jenny shook her head distractedly; she was watching ghost Tom walk up to the door and arrogantly organise his friends into groups. Watching this scene unfurl again was very odd.

"No, it's got to be relevant to this situation, surely," Zach rubbed his chin, lost in deep thought, "It's more likely to be Julian's 'sample nightmare' for Tom."

"Of course, I should have known it was that ages ago!" Jenny cried, brushing her hair out of her face with her right hand. That scene had replayed many times in her head, remembering Tom's outrageous fear and the feeling of his body collapsing in on itself in her arms, yet it hadn't dawned on her to consider that as a solution to this riddle. _I must be really tired, _Jenny reassured herself.

"I know this bind-rune; I just can't remember its name." Michael sounded frustrated, clenching his hands into fists on the table. He appeared to have found the correct layout for the riddles, and Jenny walked over to inspect the strange looking, but unfinished, pattern.

"It's for breaking free from bindings, I think." He looked up at Jenny, apparently waiting for some input, "Like a rune key." The first riddle crossed Jenny's mind again: _including the key, that you need to find, you set your friends free. _Realisation lit up everyone's faces, and Jenny was just about to confirm their thoughts, when a voice stopped her. It was beautiful, like elemental music, a soft stream running over rocks. She turned towards it, just in time to see Julian emerge from the shadows by the oriental screen wearing a black vest and snake skin pants. His white hair was soft and luminous, and so long at the front that strands were falling into his eyes. Jenny felt deflated looking at him, remembering the power of his presence, the impossible perfection. She had known he'd arrive in the scene at some point, but she hadn't expected him to be so _real _when the others looked like ghosts.

"Julian." Jenny breathed, feeling her throat tighten at the mention of his name; the part that craved danger and mystery, was now desperately craving her Shadow Man. Ghost Tom was questioning him, lips curling into a challenging smirk, and Julian was introducing himself, which caused the ghostly group of friends to become noticeably intimidated by the way he looked at each of them in turn.

"I forgot how weird this really was." Summer said. She was standing next to Zach again, fingers entwined with his, while watching her ghost self join the others in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, though I never fail to look awesome." Dee laughed as ghost Dee stepped in front of ghost Jenny protectively, "Look at me, I look like a bodyguard!"

The ghostly group were talking in unison, protesting to Julian in the form of shouting, crying and insane rambling while he watched them all imperturbably.

"Do you think we'll be able to actually see Tom's sample nightmare this time?" Audrey asked curiously, "I don't do well with rats."

"How else we going to deal with them?" Michael laughed, tucking the riddles into his pocket and joining his fiancée by the end of the table. The loud conversation between the ghosts was still going on, so that the others had to shout to be heard.

"What we really need to worry about is how the hell we get rid of them!" Dee was leaving her ghosts' side, strolling slowly towards the table to join them,

"The riddle said they want to go home, so maybe we open the door and let them run upstairs or something?" she considered. No one seemed positive that her option was right, but what other options were there?

The six friends fell silent, watching the rest of the scene as if it were a horror movie they had starred in. Julian's eyes now rested on ghost Jenny, who looked back at him with terrified understanding on her face.

"_Every game has a prize. Winner take all." _Julian's familiar words came out in a matter of fact tone, and Tom turned to look at Julian with pure hatred boiling in his dark green eyes.

"Get ready guys, here comes trouble." Dee cackled, bending into a mischievous defensive stance.

"No!" ghost Tom lunged at Julian, and then stopped, looking at the ground in front of him. Jenny and Dee took a stepped forward, straining to see whatever had him so terrified.

"There it is!" Dee gasped, and after a few seconds, Jenny could see it too.

The small creature definitely had rat-like features; a furry black body, long grey tail and small pink ears. The most noticeable characteristics of the rat, however, were its feral behaviour and the peculiar hissing sound that emerged from its throat. Jenny saw that it had its teeth bared fully at ghost Tom, with wild, diluted pupils and small but razor sharp claws. He turned to get away from it and stopped as another creature appeared behind him, luring him towards the wall slowly. As his back touched the wall, other creatures appeared from shadows all around the room, coming in small groups, this time moving faster.

"Let's do this!" Dee yelled over the sound of the rats squeaking, and moved into the scene readily. The creatures sensed her presence, and started to approach her while ghost Tom tried to shake some off of his legs. Dee kicked at a couple of the rats clawing her feet, trying to make her way towards the door, and Jenny also moved into the middle of the room, catching the creature's attention instantly. They were covering the floor now, all flooding towards Jenny, Dee and ghost Tom. Dee pulled one off of her thigh as it tried to bite her, throwing it into the wall to her left. Her fluid movements were astounding to watch, but Jenny was too distracted with her own crowd of rats to focus on anything else.

"Don't come near me! They'll get you too!" ghost Tom cried from the opposite wall, his lips drawn back from his teeth in horror.

"We need to get to that door before there's no room on the floor to open it!" Jenny called to Dee, who seemed to be considering her next move while kicking out at and pushing the rats approaching her. Jenny noticed that the rats had found the others by the table, who were sitting on it to shelter from the sea of rats on the ground.

"Quick guys!" Audrey shrieked to Jenny and Dee, curling into a ball in Michael's arms. Ghost Tom was now sitting on the ground with ghost Jenny, kicking out at them with a look of pure disgust on his face. Jenny wasn't far from the door now. She pushed her legs through the creatures like they were shallow water, skilfully ignoring their biting and clawing at her feet and the jumping up at her limbs. She had already experienced excruciating pain in level 1, so much so that the rats didn't seem as bad as they looked.

"They're crawling up the table!" Audrey cried, her wide eyes shifting quickly to look at each side of the table as one rat crawled onto its surface and Michael kicked it off, "Oh god, you can't escape them!" Zach and Summer were already moving off of the table and shuffling into the centre of the room while wrestling the rats off their body.

Jenny turned to see the door behind her, and shook two rats from her left leg before grasping the doorknob and pulling.

The creatures didn't react. There was no movement towards the door whatsoever, and Dee and Jenny looked at one another helplessly.

"It didn't work?" Jenny cried, not quite knowing how to deal with this situation. Her heart was racing in her chest, so heavily that she could feel her body jolting slightly.

They were still flooding in from the shadows, moving fast across the floor, crawling on top of each other, and Jenny turned to look at Julian, who was watching ghost Tom with sick amusement.

"There's no other way out of here, I don't understand!" even Dee sounded frantic, looking around the room desperately. Jenny just stared at Julian for a while; thinking and watching absentmindedly, while he continued to watch her past self and ghost Tom.

"The window." Summer breathed, and everyone stopped fighting the rats to look at her. She was staring at the window framed by heavy blue curtains, eyeing it up and down inquisitively. Dee immediately rushed towards it, and as she moved, so did the others. Zach made his way towards the table again, grabbing a chair as a rat bit into his arm and he grunted in pain before flicking it across the floor. Dee drew the curtains, and stared outside in horror. Jenny had forgotten that she'd been the only one to see Niflheim through that window in the game, and she watched as her friends gathered around Dee to catch a glimpse of the icy hell. Jenny had described it as a landscape of elemental terror at first glance, an ice age interpreted by a mad impressionist. The ground was as white as Julian's hair, with continuous bolts of lightning and a blizzard adding a nightmarish element to the scene. The other girls were squinting, and Jenny imagined they had seen silhouettes of the other shadow creatures lurking around outside like she once had. Dee snapped out of her shock and inspected the window carefully, trying to find a way to open it.

"This window doesn't even open!" she yelled, banging the window angrily with her fist. Audrey and Jenny also looked around it, inspecting the window's frame to see if there was some trick way to push it or pull it open. Audrey yelped as a rat climbed up her leg, and Dee leant down slightly to yank it off. It turned to Dee, scratching her face and climbing onto her back. Dee ignored her injury and threw the rat against the window aggressively.

"We need to crack it!" Summer yelled, backing up against the wall next to the window and hugging her body protectively as a rat pounced onto her shoulder.

"Already one step ahead of you!" Zach called, holding the chair above his head. The girls moved to the side, shuffling through gaps in between the rats. He threw the chair forward, its heavy impact cracking the window, and then again, causing a small chunk of the glass to fall to the floor. Zach impacted the window several more times until the chair snapped, and without warning Dee landed a high, forceful kick into the small hole in the window. The glass fell to the floor, and suddenly the room was filled with vigorous wind and roaring, echoing thunder. The full power of Niflheim hit the parlour, and the teenagers hung onto furniture and each other as the rats poured out of the window and the blizzard entered. Jenny clung onto Dee and the velvet curtains, which were blowing frantically towards them, while Zach and Summer were curled into a ball on the ground, and Audrey and Michael crouched behind the sofa. The pandemonium felt never-ending, and Jenny could have sworn the wind was getting louder and harsher as the minutes dragged on. Finally, the last few rats poured out, and somehow the glass was restored, silence replacing the mayhem.

"Is everyone alright?" Dee whispered, and as everyone rose from their crouching position they nodded to her. Jenny sighed at the sight of her cream sweater, now terribly torn and stained to the point that further damage would render it impossible to wear. Audrey did the same, frozen with shock as she caught sight of her torn white pants.

"I really hate rats." Summer muttered, rubbing at her injured shoulder and smoothing down her wild hair. They were all moving to the centre of the room while tending to the small wounds on their limbs and waists.

"Yeah, that wasn't too pleasant, thank god it's over!" Audrey rubbed her eyes again as she spoke, "It is over, right?" Jenny and Dee laughed, but no one answered.

"Jenny." The voice that called her spoke so softly, that Jenny looked at her friends uncertainly for a while. They looked at her and then at one another, also searching for the owner of that voice. A few seconds passed before Jenny remembered it; the musical, alluring sound of a long ago enemy. She turned to the oriental screen, where he stood looking at her with patient, sombre blue eyes, and arms formally hidden behind his back. The others followed her gaze and stared, the tension between him and Jenny spreading to everyone standing in the parlour. Jenny took a few steps toward him then stopped, not quite knowing how to approach the situation, but he managed a strained half smile as their eyes locked.

"Julian." She gasped.

**Find out what the hell is going on in the next chapter ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for your amazing reviews, they've really kept me working on this fan fiction and I'm glad you guys are enjoying what I write.**

**This chapter is another scene showing the true nature of our Shadow Man. Sorry I kept you guys waiting so long for this, with my summer project for college and seeing friends, I've had very little times, on top of re-writing this chapter a few times because I didn't like it and having writers block. But here you go, Chapter 8, before this week was out as I promised some of you :)**

Chapter 8

Julian laughed musically at the mention of his name and advanced forward another step. It was a testing motion, like he didn't know how to approach her.

"Yes, it's me." His face relaxed a little, crooked smile turning into a relieved grin, yet the tension remained. Despite the tugging urge to run into his arms, to just collapse and melt at the touch of his skin, Jenny felt unsure. Of course, she usually felt unsure around him, he was so dangerous and unpredictable, but this time it felt different, and Jenny couldn't quite comprehend what she sensed. She realised her mouth was open with no intention to speak, and so she clamped it shut, biting her lip anxiously.

"I would ask if you've missed me, but I see that is rather clear." His eyes moved to her hand, and she realised rather shyly that she was still wearing his poesy ring. She imagined her friends had only just noticed it too, except for Summer who had seen it before the game had begun. Jenny fingered it discreetly, and could have sworn the gesture made Julian's eyes glitter.

"How are you here?" Jenny whispered severely. His impossible presence made her wary, and she wondered if this was the reason why she felt uncomfortable. Still, something was very wrong about him. The others were all silent behind her; the sound of breathing was the only audible noise as Julian considered his words.

"Now I know you don't want to know that, Jenny," he took several more steps forward, letting each foot hover in the air for a few seconds before placing it in front of his body, "You would ignore that reason to enjoy my company again." She watched him, searching the deep cobalt eyes. _He's rather sure of himself, _Jenny thought.

"I'm here, Jenny, you don't need to fight anymore." Julian said softly, now standing directly in front of her. She was trying to think about the right thing to do in this odd scenario; Jenny didn't trust him, something about the way those eyes stared at her, wider and hungrier than the eyes she remembered. She felt the need to push him away and think, thinking was so hard to do around Julian, almost headache inducing. Before she could gather her thoughts and return his presumption with a sarcastic comment, Julian reached out and caressed her cheek with the back of his finger, making her blush with the pleasure of his touch.

"I'm here now." He repeated, even softer than before. She unconsciously rested her head in his hand and shut her eyes to enjoy the dizzying sensation, and could sense his head bowing down to get closer to her lips. An arm encircled her waist, and she was being drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. She rested a hand against his chest, meaning to push him back, but instead she felt the silky material of his vest top, so thin she could almost trace his muscles. She was faintly aware that the others were watching her, both cautious and fascinated, and Julian was starting to rock her gently in his arms. In the back of her mind, she knew this wasn't right, that something was different, but she didn't want to know; she had waited too long for this moment.

Julian moved his hand from her cheek and stroked her hair, pulling her even closer to him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. The moment reminded her of the prom before the second game, when she had danced with him to the balcony, drifting away from the real world, and all worries about games and erratic Shadow Men distanced as she lost herself in the embrace of the man she loved.

"Jenny." He sighed, kissing her hair with a feather like touch. She felt his breath against her scalp, and realised that it was colder than she remembered. His breath and skin were usually so warm, but everything about this Julian seemed cold and icy, a sensation both shocking and pleasurable at the same time. She raised her head from his shoulder and pulled back a little to look into his eyes. His irises were such a vivid blue, that Jenny couldn't break away from his yielding gaze.

"Your skin is cold." She gasped. She hadn't realised how numb her body has started to feel around him. Julian smiled slightly, black eyelashes drooping as he looked from her lips to her eyes.

"Yes, it is." He didn't bother to explain why; he only leant forward so their lips were inches away. She knew that he was waiting for her to drift towards him and kiss him, that way he would win. Julian always won, and for once Jenny was willing to accept it. She arched her neck slightly to get closer to him, eyes starting to close so she could enjoy the feeling of their lips moulding together, then stopped.

He was smirking. It wouldn't have been a big deal to her, except that it was a particular type of smirk. Not the kind of knowing, hungry smirk that Julian often sported, but rather a childish, getting-what-you-want kind of smirk. Her stupidity hit her hard as she lingered in her position; his skin was cold, brought on by the fact that he was so evil and unfeeling that his inner personality was already reflected in his body, and the shocking sensation was the menace radiating from every ounce of his being.

"You're not Julian." Jenny glared at him as she pulled away. It felt so obvious looking at him now; the expression didn't match the face at all; it was too devious, too cunning for Julian. He looked baffled for a few seconds, his hands suspended in his embracing position before straightening up and cackling viciously with pure evil in his eyes.

"Right again." His voice was low now, elemental music fading into wind over metal, soft and harsh all at once. The six teenagers watched in horror as Julian's frost white hair darkened to a deep, coal black and his cerulean eyes dissolved into a bright jade colour. He remained in Julian's extravagant clothing, which Jenny couldn't help but find bizarre and unpleasant.

"Hello." Darien grinned, tucking his hands into the pockets of the snake-skin pants. Jenny looked at him with bemused fury.

"You tried to trick me." She spoke quietly, disgust and outrage burning through her veins. Her hatred towards Darien was so unbearable, that she didn't even know how to deal with it. He chuckled briefly and bowed his head.

"You can't deny that for a good five minutes, I had you fooled." He winked at her, and Jenny balled her hands up into fists involuntarily. Without warning, she lashed out at him, throwing a blow into his cheek, but he caught her hand easily and twisted her round, so that his chest was pressed hard against her back and arms restrained by his strong hands.

"Nice try." He whispered against her ear. Though his voice was heavenly to her ears and breath so cold it tickled her senses, the constraining gesture was so demeaning that Jenny recoiled. She knew escape was useless, but she still thrashed violently. _I won't let him have that satisfaction anymore, _She told herself determinedly.

"I hate you, you selfish, arrogant jerk!" Jenny was beyond infuriated; she was filled from head to toe with anger and hurt, a fire had been ignited within her that had never been sparked before. Pure, persistent hatred.

"Hate is a very passionate emotion, you know." His conversing tone, mercurial as ever, was now factual and polite, still holding Jenny close to his body. The unwanted intimacy made Jenny grimace.

"I don't care what it is, let me go!" he finally released her, and she rubbed at her aching wrists. Being that close to him felt so very wrong.

"Oh yes you do. Some say that hate is more powerful, more binding than love. It sticks in your mind, stimulates your senses in a way that love just cannot achieve. Doesn't it irk you that you feel more passionately for me than you do for Julian?" his emerald eyes shone in the dim lighting so sweetly, but it didn't take much intelligence for Jenny to know he was mocking her.

"You mean as much to me as I mean to you." she replied through gritted teeth, eyeing him disapprovingly as she spoke. He raised his eyebrows as if in total bewilderment, and crossed his arms in front of his body.

"I'm not sure I agree with that." He said slowly.

"It doesn't matter if you agree with me or not, your opinion is irrelevant."

"No need to be rude, Jenny. I'm just making courteous conversation." His grin angered her even more, and she stepped forward ready to answer with even more sarcasm when Dee's strong arm pulled her back.

"Just give us the our next clue so we can move on." She sighed, shooting Jenny a pleading look. Zach and Michael mechanically moved to stand either side of Jenny, ready to restrain her when Darien decided to strike again.

"I'll give you your next clue when I'm done having fun." His eyes still burned into Jenny's, watching her fury unfurl in the cores of her deep, cypress green eyes with jubilant delight, "Jenny needs to first admit to me that I am right."

"Why?" she whispered a little breathlessly.

"Because I want you to."

"No." He tilted his head slightly, studying her for a while.

"Four very simple words, Jenny, 'you are right Darien.' Just say it."

"No." she repeated, voice quiet and determined. Hidden irritation stirred in his eyes, and he started to tap his foot impatiently on the ground, but the wide smile on his face still implied that the situation was under his control.

"Say it." He repeated, taking a threatening step towards her.

"I won't give you the satisfaction." Jenny assured him, dictating the words that kept her confidence strong inside her mind. He now tilted his head back slightly, devilish grin turning into a venomous smirk.

"Oh really?" Darien's laughter filled the room, and it took some moments for the group to realise that he was disappearing. They fell silent and tense once again, paranoia taking over each person standing in the parlour while they anticipated his next move. They all circled on the spot a few times and wandered around the centre of the room cautiously before looking to Jenny.

"Oh god, where is he?" Summer shrieked, clutching her elbows tightly to her chest again. Michael was starting to hyperventilate, and Dee crouched slightly, predatory senses standing on alert. Jenny's temper died down, replaced by her newfound fear. _Where was Darien_?

"Where are you?" Dee bellowed out, shocking the room with her sudden outcry. Darien instantly appeared behind Zach, his long, muscular arm wrapped around his neck forcefully. Zach gasped for air and clamped his hands onto Darien's bare arm in a desperate attempt to escape.

"SAY IT!" Darien yelled, eyes now full of violence and mischief, all amusement replaced with threat. Jenny was frozen on her spot, watching Zach in petrified shock. Everything was so fast, happening all at once, and she forgot how to speak.

"Jenny!" Audrey squealed, entwining her hands in her auburn hair in frustration. The words were caught in Jenny's throat, and she desperately tried to spit them out….

"NOW JENNY!" he urged once again, apparently tightening his grip around her cousin's neck. Zach's eyes were wide, and a sound escaped his mouth that Jenny had never heard and never wanted to hear again.

"You are right Darien!" she cried, covering her mouth with her hand as soon as the words were out. Zach fell to the ground, clutching his neck in relief, and Summer fell to his side to comfort him. The crowd were in shock, no one knew how to behave now, and the only calm, composed individual was Darien standing over Zach, content with his victory.

"See? Now that wasn't so hard Jenny." He chuckled, looking at Zach on the floor with mild interest, "Just four simple words." She wanted to say something back, to tell him to die, to deny she had succumbed to his torture again, but she didn't know how anymore. Anything she did or said would most certainly backfire on her friends, and next time she assumed he wouldn't be so merciful with the choice of punishment.

"Now we can all move on." He walked back to his spot by the oriental screen, rather than disappearing and reappearing again, and scanned the group in front of him.

"You wouldn't think that your pathetic lot have been through hell and back," he shook his head, "You, Jenny, have already dealt with my elders twice in your lifetime, it truly is spectacular. But you are still so fragile and weak."

"She's stronger than you think." Audrey blurted out. Darien's eyes locked on hers and he sighed.

"As I've been told before. My elders told me, your Julian told me, and I believe you told me," he pointed to Dee briefly, "I am yet to see such strength in the great Jennifer Thornton." He now seemed curious, and Jenny let a silent tear fall down her cheek. He was trying to unleash the 'Julian side' of her personality; the part that would climb out of the swan boat to confront her enemy, the part that would consider walking through fire as a possible escape, the part that beat Julian in all the games he tried to trap her in, and she knew Darien would just keep challenging her until she snapped. All these years, she had hidden rebellious Jenny, afraid that her confidence would overpower everything else, such as the necessity to choose the safety of the people she loved over impulse.

"I thought we were moving on." Jenny said softly. She wouldn't dare let Darien see her cry, all she wanted to do now was get through the game and escape this Shadow Man's suffocating presence as soon as possible. The room fell silent again, and Darien inhaled.

"Fine, I've had enough of you now anyway." temperamental Darien was very good at hiding his disappointment behind a façade of disinterest, but he still watched her, almost deciding what tricks to play on Jenny next. She realised to her distaste that she could now look at Darien in a different light; he was a very good looking guy, dark features contrasting superlatively with his grass-green eyes, especially with the jet-black bangs that fell over his face. He was much more gothic punk than Julian in his style sense with the chains and buckles he often wore, maybe a little taller, and definitely more cunning, but Jenny was sure she had found a weakness in his enigmatic mood swings and roguish personality.

As far as she could muster, Darien was fairly new to both worlds, his own and hers. He possessed a great general knowledge, which Jenny assumed all Shadow Man inherited during creation anyway, and the information the elders had passed onto him about her and her friends, as well as any additional knowledge he had got from Julian was as much as he knew about human behaviour. She imagined he had stalked them for a while, gaining secretive knowledge such as Michael's interest in dark magic and Audrey's love affairs, and gained a little hunting practice before sending her that dream, but that was the full extent of his understanding. He had seen them in their everyday lives, tested their reactions to his conniving tricks in this game, but he wanted to see the anger from Jenny his ancestors had told him about, yearned to torture both Julian and Jenny together when she completed all the mini-games and they reunited once again in that old arcade, and somehow a tugging thought filled Jenny's mind. _He is a child, _she thought to herself, _he is undoubtedly cruel and following the orders of his elders, but he is so curious about reactions and feelings. _

"I'm starting to get the impression you've stopped listening." Darien's melodic voice broke her thoughts. She didn't realise he had been talking before, and suddenly felt very afraid. Would he punish her for zoning out?

"Uh, sorry." She whispered uncomfortably, and looked around to see her friend's faces watch her in curiosity. They wanted to know what was distracting her.

"Summer, may you do the honours?" Darien motioned towards Jenny while looking into the frightened, china blue eyes in the back of the crowd. She shuffled forward and cleared her throat.

"I…I don't remember it all." She breathed shakily.

"Then we'll do it together, shall we?" he took Summer's hand patronizingly, and Jenny saw Summer twitch as his cold skin touched hers. An angered Zach groaned in the nervous silence.

"The exit's unclear…." Darien prompted her, and shutting her eyes, Summer tried to remember his words.

"The exit's unclear, and the walls are reflective,

So don't believe your eyes, ignore all perspective,

To find your way out, you must…." Summer swallowed uneasily and looked up to Darien. He only rolled his eyes.

"Rationalise, keep going, you're doing very well."

"…Rationalise,

Keep reality close, don't give into the lies." Her relief was very visible in her features, now much more confident that Darien wouldn't hurt her. He applauded her briefly, and pushed her towards Dee, who caught her before she could tumble back into Michael.

"Did you get all of that Jenny?" Darien began to pace the room in front of the group, looking to Jenny expectantly.

"Yeah, I got that."

"Then I guess you better get going, you're all starting to look a little….drained." Jenny thought the idea of wearing out the group would make Darien happy and smug, but instead he looked disappointed. She could only assume he was getting bored, and all this standing around and talking for hours wasn't exactly how the Shadow Men got their kicks.

"The door to the next level is through the same door from which you entered," He stood facing the group now, eyeing them over lethargically one more time before walking towards the door, "Move, time is of the essence."

Darien opened the door, and Dee started to warily make her way towards it. The others followed suite, and they poured through the door which looked like it led to another dim hallway. As Jenny passed Darien, she noticed the door had a sign on the inside of it that now read, in a very bizarre font: LEVEL 4: DISORIENTATION, and vaguely noted that the door to the level they had just completed didn't even have a sign on the door before. _Maybe because we already knew so much about it, _she thought to herself.

"Jenny?" Darien called before she could step into the hallway. She turned to look at him, and inhaled nervously as the lime green eyes buried into her own,

"Don't be so foolish when we next convene," he warned, eyes flashing dangerously, "I don't want you forgetting that I'm much, much stronger than you." she nodded obediently at the monster standing before her, and turned slowly to follow her friends through to the next level.

_Something's going to go very wrong, _she sensed in the back of her mind, _Something's going to go horribly, horribly wrong. _

**Btw, if random lines appear in this particular document, it's not my fault MS Word is gay. But I hope you enjoyed it, as always, tell me what you think, already got some great ideas for my next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Once again, I'd like to thank all the people that have reviewed my story so far, every time I feel like I'm just going to stop writing this story, you guys show up, I love you all, yes even you!**

**This chapter is a little repetitive and complicated. It's not my best, I'll admit that, there's just something missing, but I won't waste another second looking at it over and over and constantly re-writing it, I just pray you will spare my soul if you hate it! My project is finally out of the way, though I start college this Wednesday so my last few chapters might come at ridiculously spaced out intervals, so I apologize in advance for that. **

**I have written Chapter 10 as well, just because I'm that nice, and I'll proof read it at some point in the next three days and get that up too, maybe after I get some inspiration about what the next level should be….. But yes, let me know what you think!**

Chapter 9

The delicate sound of footsteps filled the dark hall as the group trudged along in total silence. They had been humiliated and exhausted in the passed 3 levels, and each person knew without a doubt that the next level would only get more challenging and demanding as the game progressed. Ever so often, the sound of a sigh, clearing throats or sniffing poisoned the deathly silence, but then it would return and they would journey down the never-ending hall without words. Jenny imagined that everyone was lost in deliberation like her, helpless to the sea of questions that floated round their minds with persistent longing for answers.

Jenny was thinking about Darien, as much as she didn't want to. His behaviour bothered her; how he had been so discontented with her sudden calmness and eager to make her angry, and how she knew in the depths of her soul that Darien wanted her to let him kill her cousin to prove her inner strength. He was so ready to fight with her, go face to face with the human that stood up to his elders, and although it scared her, it wasn't what bothered her the most. If he hadn't smirked at that precise moment in time, she would have kissed him. Jenny would have touched the ice cold lips that belonged to the heartless, animalistic Darien, and it forced her to wonder what he had been thinking. Had he smirked on purpose, to stop her from getting too close to him? Or did he really want to know what it felt like to kiss Jenny and accidentally ruin his chance? She knew it wasn't worth considering, he clearly didn't care about her in the slightest, but with the extent of his curiosity and volatility, it was hard to know what he truly wanted from her. In the midst of her thoughts, she registered that the whole experience of being deceived, and seeing Darien dressed as Julian with his impossible beauty, indescribable presence, the perfection of his features and those incandescent blue eyes made her feel very battered. She wanted _her _Shadow Man so desperately now, yearned for his comfort and safety from her newfound enemy, and Darien's teasing had only made her feel more distant from him than ever.

Summer looked as fragile as she used to now; all the confidence had been knocked out of her when she'd been lunged towards Dee. Audrey and Michael still seemed to be a little awkward from their revealed secrets as they kept a constant distance between their walking space, and Dee didn't dare talk for reasons unknown. Zach seemed like the only one who had come out stronger, incensed by Darien's carelessness towards his girlfriend, and Jenny wondered how far he would go to regain his pride. Her days of blindly lashing out at Darien were up, she understood the consequences, and it was clear she would have to be one step ahead of him when the time came to rescue Julian.

"Found the clue." Michael said in a deflated tone. He lifted the crumpled piece of paper off of the dark wooden floor and turned to his friends while inspecting the back of it carefully, "Another piece to the puzzle."

"This hall has been leading us down to nowhere for a long time now." Zach sounded overly frustrated, almost like he was ready to turn and take his anger out on the wall, but Dee shook her head.

"This is about the third time Jenny and I have walked down a hall like this, and I can assure you it always leads to certain doom."

"That's weird." Audrey whispered, and the others switched their attention to look at her in anticipation.

"I swear I just saw something move over there, but…." She bit her lip, burrowing her brows in confusion.

"But what?" Jenny asked. A wave of cold air shot up her spine as Audrey turned to look at her with wide fearful eyes.

"It looked like me." Jenny looked to Dee, and noticed that they were all looking at each other nervously. A crazed giggle echoed through the hall, and without words they moved together for protection.

"I think I see something shiny in the darkness." Michael exclaimed, pointing into the nothingness in front of them.

"I guess this is where the hall stops then." Dee chuckled under her breathe, looking to a now trembling Summer.

"We're going to need to move forward, no matter what is lurking in that darkness." Jenny reminded them, "We know it's the only way to finish this game."

They were easing into the danger zone watchfully, Jenny, Dee and Zach in front while Summer, Audrey and Michael fell behind cautiously. In no time, they all remarked that they could see the shiny, silvery surface Michael had talked about.

"I think I can see a silhouette in it," Audrey said wonderingly, "I can't tell in this darkness."

"Guess we better check it out then." Jenny looked to Dee and Zach, who braced themselves for what was to come. They moved forward in a tight line slowly, squinting as they approached the shiny wall. The others weren't far away from it, close enough for Jenny to hear their muffled whispering, and as their eyes adjusted in the limited light available, they started to inspect the surface.

"This is definitely a mirror." Dee remarked, feeling its cool surface with her right palm. Zach jerked his head around in a circular motion, looking very confused as his eyes dashed from side to side.

"Then why can't we see our reflections?" Zach asked, causing Jenny and Dee to also search for their mirrored images.

"Maybe it's the lighting." Dee said, and as if answering a question, a bright white light abruptly switched on overhead. Their eyes took a while to adjust, but as they did, it was clear that these mirrors weren't quite right.

"This level is called disorientation, Isn't it?" Dee recalled, turning to look at Jenny warningly, "Don't believe your eyes, ignore all perspective, I think that's what he said."

"Yeah, he also said the walls are reflective, which they kind of are since I can see the door to the hall closing in this mirror." Michael was now behind Dee, and they all watched through the mirror as the door slammed shut and disappeared.

"How can the door seem so close when we walked for so long?" Zach asked bemusedly. He only received disbelieving stares in answer, as they had mentioned many times now; _anything is possible with the Shadow Men._

"Can we even call these mirrors if they don't reflect properly?" Dee asked, but no one felt sure enough of the answer to reply.

"Jenny, look!" Audrey pointed further down the mirror, and all eyes followed her hand to the distorted reflection of a girl by the end of the mirror wall. It took some time for the group to move towards it, all wary of what they could be approaching, but as always Dee was the first to investigate. They followed behind her and waited patiently. Dee gasped in disbelief, turning to her friends.

"It's you, Jenny, that's your reflection!" her tone was unusually shaky as she spoke, and Jenny walked to Dee's side with her friends, facing the mirror in shock. Sure enough, Jenny stood before them in the same ripped cream sweater that she was wearing with all the patches of blood in the right places, her badly torn blue jeans, and matted hair that stuck to her face slightly from sweating. She was watching herself lazily, and stood with her arms casually folded in front of her chest.

"Oh dear, that is me." She tilted her head in fascination. It looked just like her, but that expression definitely didn't belong to her; it was too careless, no sign of wistfulness in those deep green eyes.

"This is just too weird now." Summer gasped, and Zach wrapped a supportive arm around her as her trembling worsened.

"What is she waiting for?" Michael wondered quietly. Jenny couldn't help but watch her reflection as it watched her with her own forest green eyes, and speculated about what she should do. The reflection wasn't doing anything; it didn't step out of the glass, or say anything, it just stood and watched expectantly, and without another thought, Jenny reached forward, her shaky hand reaching up to touch the reflection's face.

As she did so, the calm face changed, contorting into ferocious rage, nose scrunching up and baring sharp, white teeth. The once forest green eyes were now blacked over as if dilated, and it let out a piercing, bloodcurdling scream that echoed through the room. The shock of its reaction sent Jenny plummeting to the floor and instantly crawling as far away from it as possible. She couldn't tear her eyes away from such a deformed expression on her own face, those features so demonic that she would be sure to see it every time she looked in the mirror from this day on. The others were moving, sprinting around the corner to escape the ghastly sight, and Dee and Zach scooped Jenny off the floor, running with her round the corner and into the disorientating maze of mirrors.

They were moving quickly through a narrow hallway, desperately trying to ignore the reflections all around them. It was so narrow that they were forced into a single file line, Michael pushing through first and the others following until Jenny joined at the back. The walls they passed fleetingly were a random mixture of both concave and convex mirrors like the ones in theme park fun houses, the distorted kind that would change the shape of limbs and other body parts, but the group didn't dare look at what these ones reflected. Jenny listened to the sounds of their quick breathing and footsteps, as well as the distant sound of her reflection screaming, and believed the giggling from before was getting louder as they pushed further into the hallway. As she rushed passed a convex mirror, she could have sworn she saw a glint of auburn hair in the corner of her eye, but she refused to tell; they'd probably all had a sneak peak at their reflections too.

A clearing eventually came into sight, and they stumbled out into a small hexagon shaped room with more mirror walls. It was bright and easy to see in the enclosed space despite the visual lack of lighting, and the group stood warily in the centre as they each caught sight of the reflections encircling them. Their reflections were laughing, no, cackling, a spine-tingling unnatural sound that echoed through the room and chilled the ears and nerves of their spectators. They stared into nothingness with the wild, diluted eyes that now haunted Jenny, and with the entrance lost to the confusing maze of mirrors, and the surround sound laughter blocking all other sounds and thoughts, escape seemed impossible.

Summer clutched her ears tightly and collapsed to the floor. It looked like she was crying silently, though Jenny knew better, and Zach was leaning down to comfort her. Dee was already moving around the room, feeling desperately for an exit, and the others followed after the initial shock, taking a wall each to search. It was a horrid experience with the reflections following them around the room, unnervingly distracting them as they felt around the edges of the mirrors for hinges or other signs of an exit.

Michael called from his side of the hexagon room though no one could hear, but Dee rushed over to help prise the door open as soon as she caught sight of him, and Jenny and Audrey stopped tugging at their walls to stand with Summer. Zach's devilish face sneered down at them from the mirror, but they pulled at it frantically until it released. They all poured into the next room, more than ready to escape the sniggering reflections as the entrance shut behind them. Finally it was quiet again.

"I don't know which room was worse to be honest." Audrey breathed, leaning her hands on her knees and bending over slightly. Summer was braced against the door with Zach, while Michael, Dee and Jenny visually swept the room.

"This is where things will get really complicated." Dee sighed, looking helplessly to the three pathways in front of her.

"When I move positions, I can't even tell where each entrance is," Jenny said, swaying left and right with her eyes squinted, "It seems pretty easy to lose one another."

"Simple, we just hold hands." Zach shrugged, and the others felt satisfied with its simplicity. Jenny turned to the mirror by her side and winced as she found herself staring at the back of her head. These mirrors appeared to reflect backwards, and this spooked her even more.

"Let's get going now." She suggested quietly.

They began walking towards a random pathway with their hands interlinked, but soon realised Darien wouldn't let them get away with straightforward plans that easily. Only two of the four teenagers could successfully walk through into that passageway, and Michael and Audrey looked back in horror as their friends bumped into an invisible wall.

"Guess we're taking a different route." Dee clicked her tongue, and Jenny nodded to Audrey, who pulled Michael along with her further into the passage. The others tested the remaining passages, and discovered that they had been paired up; Summer and Zach for the third passageway, and Dee and Jenny for the first.

"Good luck." Zach called to them with a deadpan face, and Jenny gulped as he disappeared with her fragile friend.

"You ready Jenny?" Dee smiled, and with shared looks of uncertainty, they both wandered into their selected entrance.

"I knew he would split us up." Jenny muttered, looking to the unreflective walls either side of her.

"Yeah, I guess it was just a matter of time really." Dee sounded unaffected by the dangers of being separated from the others, but Darien had pointed out how she enjoyed the gaming environment. She seemed unbreakable even in the most inescapable of scenarios, and it was a comfort to have her defiantly by Jenny's side as they entered the unknown corners of the Shadow Man's hell.

"You're a useless good for nothing piece of trash." The sharp edge to the voice was so shocking that the girls stopped and looked at each other in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" Jenny asked unsurely. Dee raised her hands and eyebrows in defence.

"That wasn't me, Jenny. I thought it was you."

"You don't deserve him. You'll never deserve him." They turned to see a dead end to the passage, yet another mirror, and that it was reflecting a different Jenny, a slightly younger one dressed in a long flowing skirt and golden thread vest.

"Not again." Jenny sighed, and walked over to her reflection a little arrogantly.

"You believe that the whole world is against you. Poor little paranoid Jennifer." Her own voice was taunting her, and it was looking at her in the same way Angela had when she'd accused Jenny of murdering her friends Slug and P.C, "You think that you're worth Julian and Tom and all your precious friends, but you don't deserve anything."

"Shut up." Jenny snapped, eyeing her false reflection with disgust. All the doubts she'd ever had in her head were about to be voiced, she was sure of it.

"You lost all of your friends because you didn't care about them enough to try and keep them. You're a bad person." Dee stood next to Jenny, echoing her disgust.

"Don't act so innocent Dierdre, you also stopped bothering with your friends, you never had any intentions to reunite with them." Dee appeared next to Jenny's reflection dressed head to toe in black kung fu kit, joining in with the criticism.

"Ignore them, Jenny, remember its all lies." Dee mumbled.

"You never did listen to what you were told," Dee's reflection continued, "You hide all your ignorance behind bravery, pretending you know exactly what to do, stupid foolish girl."

"Not to mention the quick escape from responsibility," Jenny's reflection spoke again, "Safe little Tommy will tell you what to do."

"Please tell me there's an exit around here." Jenny pleaded, looking to Dee for support. Dee moved away from her reflection and looked around, once again feeling the cracks around the mirrors for an exit. Jenny copied her actions.

"The only reason you didn't die a young, pathetic child was because you were being protected," said Jenny's reflection, "You always knew how to get yourself into the stupidest situations where you would have been sure to die."

"Your parents don't care about you." Jenny and Dee stopped, stunned by the words that escaped the reflection's mouth.

"That's why you always went to Aba. Your mum is too busy with her technology-based career to worry about you and your troublesome behaviour, and your dad stopped trying a very long time ago. Now Aba is gone, who is really around to care what you do?"

"Go to hell!" Dee yelled, slamming her fist against the glass that displayed her reflection.

"They're not worth it Dee; they're figments of our imagination." Jenny assured, resting a supportive hand on her friends shoulder.

"Jennifer Thornton, always believing she knows what's right, and then luring her friends into her problems with her." Her reflection sneered at her, and in even more of a hurry to escape the torment, she turned to the next wall to look for the exit. The reflection followed her round.

"That's right, keep looking, pretend you know what you're doing Jenny, it usually works after all."

"This isn't working." Dee sighed, avoiding the judgemental eyes of her reflection as she reached the next wall, "The exit won't be much further up this hallway."

"Yes, give up Dierdre; you and Jenny can both suffer for eternity in here." Dee didn't look away from Jenny, eyes glazed over with anger, control slipping from her grasp.

"You both deserve to be contained for the rest of your lives with the things you've done," Jenny's reflection rested her hands on her hips, shaking her head disapprovingly, "The countless times you've risked your friends lives to seem brave, such reckless human beings."

"Stop." Jenny had finally reached her limit. She knew that she'd done wrong in her life and that if she had just been more in control of her own actions, and not depended on her friends so much, that many disasters could have been avoided. She even knew that she didn't deserve any of her friends, since she always expected them to just be there forever without having to make any effort to stay together, but she didn't want to know anymore. The guilt constantly clouded her mind, and that was enough for her, the taunting had to end.

"I know, okay? We both know that we aren't flawless, but we don't need this, we're old enough to acknowledge our mistakes and fix them, so just stop!" she walked over to her reflection, and stared into the expressionless green eyes that mocked her, "I'm a bad person, I'll admit that, but I love my friends, and I'll fight for them until I die."

The reflections watched her wordlessly for a while then disappeared, and a quiet clicking noise filled the silence.

"I guess the key to open this door was a little slice of the good old badass Jenny." Dee opened the door wider, flashing Jenny a barbaric grin before walking through. Jenny knew her friend would be proud of her for standing up for herself, but somehow shouting at her reflection dressed in clothes she felt she'd worn another lifetime ago hadn't made her feel any better. She still felt something was going to go horribly wrong.

They found themselves in another dark room, so pitch black that even silhouettes were impossible to distinguish from it.

"Where are you Dee?" Jenny whispered harshly.

"Follow my voice." She moved towards it, and caught Dee's sweaty hand in hers.

"I can't see a thing, there's no way we'll find an exit in here without any light!" Jenny could feel Dee moving her hands around cautiously in front of her body in an attempt to figure out the environment, but it didn't seem like she was having much success.

"Oh wait, I see something." Jenny squinted, and arched her head forward to try and see clearer. There were two smallish dots in front of her, a blue-white colour, a small space apart from each other, and almost in line with her waist.

"What is it?" Dee asked, but Jenny was too busy inspecting it to answer. Suddenly four more dots appeared, a bit of a distance away from the other ones, same colour, and same space apart, but at different heights. They then began to appear more rapidly, materializing all around the girls, until they seemed to be trapped by them, hundreds of blue-white dots. Jenny focused on them carefully when she realized that they were actually too big to be classed as dots, and every blue-white circular shape had small black holes in their centres. As she remembered what they were, the whispering started, soft and indistinct.

"The eyes." She breathed, reflexively raising a hand to her heart. The memory of the cave flooded into her mind, the day she died…

"The eyes? The eyes of what?" Dee asked. Thousands of cold and ravenous eyes watched them, emitting their own eerie blue light. Jenny expected them to start fading, but only more appeared, and she stood helplessly as she watched them fill up the wall.

"The eyes of the Shadow Men."

**Ooh, I'm nervous now, how awful was it on a scale of 1 to 10? (10 being the worst, 1 being the least worst :P) **


	10. Chapter 10

**Continuing on from level 9: Disorientation, The group are reunited, and then things get a little heated with Darien, another scene to show how cruel and unpredictable my little Shadow Man can be :D Personally enjoy my ending, but I prefer to know what you guys think, so don't forget to review!**

Chapter 10

She could vaguely see her friend now, and could even make out the confused fear on Dee's face. The voices were getting louder, still whispering but at a heightened volume, becoming more musical and menacing as more eyes appeared, and then something caught Jenny's attention, something that chilled her more than all the blue-white eyes watching her with patient hunger and the gibberish pouring out of their invisible mouths. Bright iridescent green eyes, looking right into hers, directly in front of her, standing out dramatically from the others. Even the mere presence of Darien's eyes was enough to change the atmosphere from frightening to absolutely petrifying. He was there, watching her with his elders, a reminder that no one messes with the boss or you suffer the full force of his power and the supremacy of his murderous race. That emerald green would never seem innocent again, a mark of the creature created to kill, stained with the memory of piercing, warning eyes burning into her own.

"Can they hurt us?" Dee asked doubtfully. She could just about see Jenny shaking her head, staring wide eyed at the area in front of her.

"I…I don't think so. I think it's just to scare us." Her voice was strained, almost impossible to hear over the whispering. Dee moved towards the eyes and touched them hesitantly, testing any possible reactions before continuing. When she was sure that they wouldn't respond, Dee walked around the eyes until she reached the area that Jenny was looking at.

"There's no wall here, Jenny, it's an open space." Jenny watched as Dee slid her arm through the place where the wall should have been, causing a few of the eyes that her arm pierced through to disappear, "It's kind of like a projection, or hologram." They both followed through quickly into the aperture, a spine-tingling sensation causing them to shudder as they punctured through the image of Darien's eyes.

They found themselves in a pentagon shaped room of mirrors, sighing at the exasperating and repetitive order to the maze: find a room, look around, be intimidated by some challenging twist and overcome it; the concept was becoming tiresome. They scanned the walls again almost mechanically, only to find the same old reflection of the background and not themselves.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually getting bored of this level." Dee groaned, resting her head heavily on the glass. Jenny pressed her back against it and slid down till she was sitting on the floor; her legs lazily sprawled out in front of her body.

"I wouldn't call this disorientating anyway; it's more creepy than confusing." She bowed her head and buried it in her palms. Dee looked into the glass in front of her jadedly, and hit it. Jenny felt the impact of it against her back, and shook off the tingly sensation. They needed to do something, but what they needed to do wasn't quite clear, and seconds went by without movement from either of the girls.

"Did you hear that?" Dee lifted her head off of the glass and stayed very still, like a dog that had just heard a sound inaudible to humans. Jenny cocked her ear to the glass and waited. She could hear it too, like a muffled knocking sound, rapping over and over and over in a frantic motion.

"Jenny." Dee's voice was low, and Jenny followed her stunned gaze to the mirror opposite them.

Tom's back was arched over weakly, and he was banging desperately on the wall to grab their attention. He was mouthing something that they couldn't hear through the glass, but the girls could read his lips well enough to know he was saying 'HELP US'. A girl lay against the glass by his feet facing away from Dee and Jenny, and her face was partially covered by her long, chestnut coloured hair. She didn't seem to be moving.

"Tom!" Jenny sprinted to him, banging on the glass urgently. His hazel eyes were wide with fear, face glazed with sweat, and he _looked _weaker, like he would collapse at any moment.

"What do we do?" Jenny turned to Dee, who was taking her shoes off.

"That window I broke in the last level was all down to these babies." She showed Jenny the abnormally large and heavy looking soles of her ankle high boots, then handed her one. Jenny took it, and watched Dee hit the mirror with her shoe several times. The glass cracked, only slightly at first, until Dee had struck it enough times to create a small hole, so Jenny began to hit the glass with her shoe too. Tom knelt down to the girl, whispering in her ear and scooping her into his arms with a bit of a struggle. Jenny avoided the scene awkwardly while breaking the glass; she'd realised the girl in his arms must be his new girlfriend almost immediately, but she couldn't help feeling a little surprised and a stab of jealousy as he kissed her forehead. Dee had created a large hole in the glass, and kept tapping around it with her shoe until Tom and the girl could fit through.

"Open your eyes, baby, please open your eyes…" Tom was rambling as he placed the girl on the floor, too concerned with her to even look up at Dee and Jenny. He wiped the hair from her face and checked for a pulse shakily.

"No, come on Sophie, talk to me!" he scooped her upper body onto his lap, rocking her gently back and forth. Dee and Jenny knelt down either side of him sympathetically.

"Tom, let me help her, I learnt CPR in my training." Dee reassured, squeezing his shoulder to show her support. He looked at the motionless girl in his arms and nodded, handing her to Dee carefully to let her do whatever was necessary. Tom turned to look at Jenny with mad fury boiling in his green flecked eyes.

"Where the hell are we, Jenny?" his voice was sharp, speaking to her in a tone that he'd never used with her before.

"Calm down Tom." Dee warned while performing CPR on the girl. He didn't turn away from Jenny for a second, wild anger possessing his thoughts. Jenny swallowed uneasily.

"No, I won't calm down! Ten minutes ago I was chilling in my dorm, and then I'm suffocating with my girlfriend in here! You tell me what's going on RIGHT NOW!"

The numb anger inside of her was bubbling back to the surface, and she gritted her teeth as she spoke.

"We're in a maze of mirrors that don't reflect." She said bluntly.

"Yeah, I can see that, I want to know why?"

"What other reason could we possibly be in a strange place with strange things going on and all doing it together?"

"Quit playing games with me!" he advanced a step toward her impatiently, "I'm tired of your stupid, damn games and you know it!"

"Well isn't that a shame, since you're now part of a new one. Welcome to level 4." She looked at him with as much disgust on her face as she could fathom. His own loathing stare made her heart ache; not in the way looking and thinking about him used to, when she was so intoxicated by love that it physically hurt, but in the way that she understood any amorous connection they had once shared was lost forever.

"Great, well that's just perfect, well done Jenny." He slid a hand down his face in frustration, and just then Sophie stirred.

Tom rushed towards her and pulled her into a loving embrace, which she joined in with once her mind registered what he was doing. Jenny had a good view of the girl's face now that it was resting on Tom's shoulder, and felt a sting of disbelief as she analysed her features; the lighting in the centre of the room was much better than in the walls, reflections or whatever they were, revealing the fact that Sophie's hair was not chestnut, but rather a honey blond colour that fell around her face in wavy locks. Her face was soft and she had a golden tint to her skin, contrasting beautifully with her dark green eyes.

"No…" She cut off their hug with her wounded gasp, and felt the jealousy filtering back into her system. Tom glared at Jenny as he pulled Sophie to her feet.

"Who are these girls? What are we doing here?" her voice made Jenny shudder. It was like her own, except maybe a little sweeter and slightly higher.

"I can't really explain where we are Soph, you're going to have to see that for yourself, but these are my…" he changed his mind last minute as he looked at Jenny, "Friends. From high school, Dee and Jenny."

"I'm his ex girlfriend." Jenny spat out, making Tom flinch, "We dated through most of our school lives. Feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it Tom?" Tom opened his mouth to answer, but Dee broke the banter to avoid petty relationship quarrelling in such an inconvenient setting.

"I wanna start moving again, if you don't mind guys." Dee urged, giving them each a look which meant 'move or I'll carry you both out of here over my shoulder'. Jenny walked towards the hole in the mirror and stepped through, gesturing for the others to follow her down yet another hallway of mirrors. She desperately wanted to walk in silence and avoid looking at or hearing from Tom until the end of the level, but he immediately continued the conversation.

"What does he want now?" Tom asked Jenny while maintaining his irritated mood.

"It isn't Julian this time; it's a different Shadow Man that has Julian locked up in the arcade. We need to rescue him."

"Awesome. So we're here to _rescue _the guy that ruined my life? That's even better."

"Oh shut up Tom, not everything is about you!" Jenny was losing her temper more with every time he spoke. She couldn't understand how the boy who not 2 years ago made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world could make her feel so infuriated and unkind.

"Don't get sassy with me Jenny, I left you guys to forget these mind games ever happened, we all got involved in some dangerous, crazy stuff and I'm done with it now! I don't even want to save Julian!" hearing his name used in such a spiteful tone forced Jenny to spin round and march up to him.

"If you wanted to leave behind your terrible old life so much, why did you decide to date a girl who looks exactly like me?" Jenny had seen her reflections far too many times through the mirrors from hell in the last half an hour or so, but what really freaked her out was a real person from Tom's new life could look so identical to her without actually being her and still get him after everything they went through. Sophie turned to look at Tom in confused shock as Jenny pointed at her.

"I'm dating Sophie because I love her! Because we can have a normal relationship free of dark magic and obsessive Shadow Men, it has nothing to do with looks!" She didn't want to believe it, it was hard to imagine Tom would randomly pick someone that looked like his former golden haired girlfriend and decide he would ask her out because she seemed like a nice person. She must have reminded him of Jenny before they'd even spoke, and the fact he admitted that he chose Sophie because she didn't bare the baggage of seeing things usually invisible to the human eye proved that he was only trying to forget the new independent Jenny and find someone like the girl he used to love, the vulnerable innocent damsel in distress that needed him for support and comfort. Jenny looked at Sophie, the sweet little girl that had replaced her in Tom's life, and reluctantly began to understand that he loved her enough to push away the memories of how he and Jenny once were as lovers.

"It's not my fault that Julian chose me Tom. Don't you dare make me feel guilty for staying strong to get you guys away from him." The hall was electrified with hostility, heaving with pain and heartbreak and long overdue confession. What was needed to be said had been said, but nothing seemed better with it all out in the open.

"I'm not sure I want to know much more about what went on between you two, but I really want someone to explain where I am, now please." Sophie held her elbows close to her body, and Tom walked over to encircle her in his arm protectively.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, just stay close to me and you'll be fine." He cooed to her, swaying soothingly as he spoke, and Sophie shut her eyes to enjoy his pleasant security. Jenny and Dee grimaced at the scene, and decided to keep moving when the couple didn't pull apart.

"I'm sure Barbie and Ken will catch up in their own time." Dee looked to Jenny, who allowed Dee's somewhat skewed sense of humour to wash away what was left of her bitterness and forget the throbbing that Tom had left behind in the centre of her chest.

"Well this is a little different." Dee and Jenny stopped at a wall that was entirely hidden behind a thick black curtain, hanging off of the ceiling somehow and draping across the floor in front of them. They looked at it with suspicious fascination, feeling the material when they were sure it wasn't going to open.

"It's so heavy, even with the work-outs I do, this is impossible to lift." Dee attempted to pull it up from the floor for a sneak peak, but the material was unmovable, concealing whatever lay behind it with a waterfall of jet-black fabric. Tom and Sophie were walking towards them, hands entwined, and as they stopped in between Dee and Jenny, the curtains stirred. The four of them took a wary step backward, and the curtains drew gracefully either side of the hallway. When the wall was finally revealed, a horrified gasp was shared, and a scream from Sophie.

Each person now had a reflection that accurately imitated their actions, but not their appearances. Their eyes were clouded over, irises barely visible at the distance they stood from the mirror, and skin so pale that it was almost blue. Their flesh was damaged in various places, some parts peeling off and decaying, others hideous open wounds that were ugly shades of red and purple and yellow. There was no hair left on their scalps, maybe a few strands, but not enough the hide the exposed skull and brain on the top of their heads. Clothes were barely noticeable with the sickening extent of the wounds and visible bone, and their heads limply hung from their necks and stared at their reflectors with an absent gaze.

"What the hell is this? This is beyond twisted!" Sophie sobbed, staring at the mirror in terror. Tom instantly pulled her to him and turned her head away from the reflection. The dead versions of the couple imitated their actions in zombie-like movements, and Tom watched it happen with revulsion.

"I thought these mirrors didn't reflect." He mumbled to Jenny, who was feeling her cheeks and watching her dead reflection copy her, except it was feeling her cheekbones and remaining nerves and muscles inside her cheek. It was revolting to look at, but she couldn't look away, and in the corner of her eye she could see Dee doing the same thing.

"These are the only reflections that have actually reflected us, but I still wouldn't call it an actual reflection." Jenny cringed as a large layer of flesh slid off of her reflection's neck and onto the floor by her feet, "This is completely disgusting, I can't look at it anymore."

"Yeah I'm done now." Dee gagged, taking another step backward from the mirror. They heard another click, and the mirror became two doors opening outwards from the centre into a lengthy room void of mirrors, with 5 people inside that seemed to be expecting them.

"Well you took your time, didn't you?" Darien was perched languidly on a large intricate black throne in the centre of the room, his arms spread across the arms of the beautiful velvety seat impatiently tapping on the edge of it and shaking his head at Jenny, who could only inhale tensely in response. She saw that he was wearing much more eccentric clothing than before: a tight black vest top with a bright green fractal explosion design on the centre of it, and a fitted leather jacket that reached down to his ankles and dramatically enhanced his gothic cyberpunk style. On his legs he wore simple black jeans and chunky-soled knee length boots with lace and buckles lining the front of them, and a vivid green computer circuit pattern that decorated their sides. Jenny noticed a very bizarre looking piece of jewellery made of metal that twisted round his wrist in a strange pattern with a large Malachite crystal in the middle of it. She could also see the Rune Stave partially hidden in the inside pocket of his jacket as he rose from his position.

"Your friends have been waiting for some time, I wasn't aware there would be so many delays," he eyed the four of them in turn, passing the rest of the group that were standing around his throne as he slowly made his way to the front of the room, "Some thought you were lost to the maze forever. Of course, by no means did I create such a thought. We've actually all had a nice, friendly chat in your absence." He turned to the others, who all had their heads bowed in what Jenny made out to be shame mixed with fear. He let the silence linger for a while, then turned back to inspect Tom and Sophie.

"So I finally meet the notorious Tom. Welcome to my game, I've heard so many nasty and spiteful things about you." Darien offered a hand to him, waiting for Tom to shake it, who only looked into the deep green eyes watching his own cautiously. Darien withdrew his hand after several minutes had passed; laughing menacingly without taking his eyes away from Tom's, "Apparently it's all true."

"Who are you?" Sophie asked meekly. She was half hiding behind Tom, and Darien only had to move slightly to his right so that he was standing in front of her.

"I go by the name of Darien, my dear." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Sophie blushed a dark shade of pink, clearly affected by the intensity of his touch, and seemed lost for words. Tom was not impressed, and tried to push Darien away without success.

"Stay away from my girlfriend you creep!" in the midst of his fury, he hadn't registered how careless his actions had been, and it was only when the blazing green eyes darted to look at him that he realised he was in trouble. Darien effortlessly lifted Tom off of the ground via his pale blue sweater, suspending him in the air with a smirk spread across his face.

"Please! Put him down! He didn't mean to upset you!" Sophie cried frantically. The rest of the group felt numbed to the situation, and even annoyed at Tom for being so stupid.

"Maybe you'd like to explain the most important rule of this game Jenny?" he looked at her for a brief second, returning his eyes to Tom when he'd finished speaking.

"Don't be foolish, because you will always lose." She stated calmly, and there was a long wait while Tom and Darien continued to stare at one another threateningly. Each boy was too full of pride and overconfidence to break away from the stare, the power of their antagonism making the air heavy and hard to breathe in. Finally, Darien dropped Tom to the ground and turned away from him, shattering the uncomfortable atmosphere in a single mood change.

"So, I hope you're all ready for the next level, it's my personal favourite, but I won't give any surprises away." He looked to Jenny excitedly, hands wrung together in anticipation, "I did tell you of special guests." That information had slipped her mind, and she started to wonder who he would select from their lives to play along in his game. It would be someone, or some people who meant a lot to them if it was going to be fun, since Darien loved nothing more than to torture his victims that way, but who?

"Let Sophie go." Darien rolled his eyes and turned back to Tom, who was standing in front of his girlfriend again. Watching from a distance, Jenny felt a little stupid for falling so deeply for Tom Locke, who stood defiantly and handsomely to defend the girl he loved, yet did not appear to have any common sense in the most unstable of scenarios. Darien's impatience was turning into irritation as he searched Tom.

"I don't care what you do to me, but you let her go right now, she isn't a part of this."

"The saddest part of this, Tommy, is that it's your fault that she is, in fact, a part of it. Once you are tainted with the knowledge of dark magic, you can't just run away from its consequences, that's not how it works." He was laughing at Tom, mocking his pathetic attempt to save Sophie, "And now, you have brought another girl that you love into the realms of darkness, of which she too, will never escape. But nice try." His wide smirk returned to his lips, enjoying Tom's realisation that he had doomed Sophie to everything he had tried so hard to escape.

"No, this isn't fair!" Tom yelled, causing Darien to only laugh louder and more insanely, "Life isn't fair Tom, don't let yourself think otherwise."

"I don't want to see Julian again; I'm not playing this damned game just so I get reunited with my worst enemy!" Tom's voice was stubborn, like a toddler refusing to take a bath or go to bed, and anger stirred in the liquid emerald eyes glaring at him.

"Don't push this Tom; you're just digging a hole for yourself!" Audrey snapped from behind Darien. She was still on the other side of the room from Jenny and the others with Summer, Zach, and Michael.

"Yeah mate, finish this with us, we'll be out in no time!" Michael didn't seem to believe his own words, but nevertheless he took a few steps forward and half smiled.

"No, I can't do this again; I won't go through this kind of torture again…"

"ENOUGH!" Darien wasn't finding much enjoyment in Tom's complaining, and his voice was like a deafening explosion that shook the room. The group recoiled at the power of his demand, and clamped their mouths shut as he glared at each of them in turn.

"You!" he strode up to Tom and grabbed his jaw angrily, pulling his face up to look at his, "You are pathetic! You will do what I tell you when I tell you to do it, you will not answer back to me again, or I promise you will not live to escape this game, do you understand?" Tom nodded as much as he could with the strength of Darien's grip on his jaw, and Darien threw Tom against the closed doors behind him like he was a piece of discarded trash. The group at the back of the room rushed to the front reflexively.

"I really want to kill you Tom, there isn't a lot preventing me from doing so."

"Julian had a much better reason to kill me than you do, and he never did." Tom choked, and suddenly Jenny's heart was racing. _No Tom, don't do this, don't test him…_

"Are you…challenging me?" Darien's voice was hesitant, but his eyes glistened with enthusiasm as he considered the idea. Tom looked determined to stay strong, despite knowing that he had just finished digging the hole that Audrey had warned him to stay away from.

"He didn't mean to say that Darien, he knows not to challenge you!" Jenny yelled unsteadily, "Please just give us our next clue so we can move on!"

"I really don't think he does know Jenny," she could see his eyes becoming more insane and hungry as Tom's confidence wavered and he pressed himself further against the door, "I think he genuinely believes I won't kill him just because Julian was weak-minded and imprudent. But I will remove that doubt from his mind…"

"No, don't do this!" Summer screamed from behind Darien, which sparked a chaotic chorus of protests from the group, asking him to think about his actions and to give him another chance. Sophie was standing by him in a frenzied panic, crying hysterically at the confusion of the situation, but Darien didn't care. He skilfully ignored the outcries, and raised a hand threateningly towards Tom. From his palm, a long white current of electricity emerged like lightning, and struck Tom in the chest. He was convulsing on the spot, eyes rolled back as the electrical current continued to surge through his body and fry him from the inside out.

"TOMMMM!" Sophie screeched painfully. She couldn't reach forward and help him despite being only inches away from his arm, a premier view of Tom's death. Jenny pressed her hands hard against her mouth, unable to breathe or react to the violent scene unfolding before her, and the others seemed equally as stunned by what was happening. Tom was dying slowly and excruciatingly, but all they could do was ask Darien to stop. It was too late, Tom's face and limbs were blackening, his seizure was controlled solely by the current running through him, and his clothes had been burnt away. Tom was gone, and when Darien was satisfied that he'd won, the lightning disappeared and the corpse fell to the floor like a huge pile of ash.

Sophie collapsed by his unidentifiable body, frozen with disbelief, and let out another heartbreaking cry as the reality sunk in. Summer shielded her eyes by curling up into Zach and sobbing, but Zach was in too big a state of shock to hug her back. Michael and Audrey held onto each other trembling, and Dee's face was shielded by her hands, refusing to let anyone see the tears that silently fell down her cheeks. Jenny stared at the burnt body lying on the floor hoping that this was part of the disorientation, that Tom would tap her on the shoulder and she'd come back to reality to find that she had just imagined a terrible accident that have never happened at all, but she knew better. This felt all too real; the smell of burnt flesh plagued her senses, the cries from her mourning friends, and the sight of Darien walking over to her soundlessly.

She thought he would say 'I told you so', or mock her grieving just to prove how pitiless he truly was, or even just watch her sadness because he found it amusing, but what he actually did was worse. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his arms, pressing her close to his body and turning his head towards hers so that his lips were brushing against her ear. She didn't want to be so close to him, and the idea of trying to pull away crossed her mind, but was lost to her dizzy shock. She couldn't remember how to use her arms, and even the coldness of his skin against her own was not enough to snap her out of her dazed confusion.

"You're welcome." He whispered to her, the iciness of his breathe so extreme that it made Jenny shiver. He believed he'd done her a favour by eradicating Tom from her life, taking him out of the equation so that she was free of his guilt forever. In this situation, it really did feel like Darien was her own dark genie, a true Djinn, but Jenny would never wish such a cruel death upon anyone.

"Tom, I'm so sorry…" Jenny sobbed, finally letting the pain take hold of her. She felt numb in Darien's arms, and he pulled away slightly, face perfectly unreadable, and stroked away her tears.

"He isn't worth these, my dear." He soothed, caressing her cheek with a gentle finger. Darien was out of character again, treating her in a way he wasn't supposed to treat her. His arctic touch was starting to feel very good against her warm skin, so Jenny closed her eyes to try and block him out.

"Leave me alone." She pleaded weakly, refusing to open her eyes when he removed his hand from her face.

"Everything will be okay Jenny; you just need to wake up." Darien's voice seemed much quieter now, and she replayed what he had just said in her head.

"But I'm not asleep." She said, feeling very lightheaded and far-away as she spoke.

Then she woke up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, I've had a long break since I posted another chapter into this story, because of my college work and social life taking up all my time, and because when I read back on this story, I didn't feel I appreciated it as much as I used to. Some chapters are very boring and under-thought in my opinion, but nevertheless I want to finish off this story so I can say I did it. This chapter was written in segments over the space of four months, so I apologize if I seem a little inconsistent in the way it's written, or if it seems like I'm just rushing the story to finish it now. Let me know what you think, and I'm sorry if I've let you guys down!**

Chapter 11

Jenny sat up in her bed and looked around in bewilderment. The sunlight seeping in from her window was blinding, so she raised her arm up in front of her face to shield her eyes, and inspected her room doubtfully. Had she just been dreaming? She could hardly remember what she'd dreamt about, something to do with her friends and a strange looking boy, it seemed irrelevant as she pulled the covers off of her body and stood up. Bit by bit the memory came back to her, all the levels and moments with Darien, seeing her friends again, meeting Sophie, Tom's death….

The heart ache returned when the shadows cleared from her mind. She was lost to a moment of shame and loss, her body becoming limp as the image of his body returned. She wanted to forget again, and was suddenly reminded of where she was. The haunting memory _could_ have just been a dream, a very disturbing and real dream. Jenny tested this theory, first looking down at her clothes, which to her relief were her white string sleeve top and chequered red and pink pyjama bottoms, and secondly pinching her forearm to see if she could feel the pain, which she did.

"Did I really just dream all of that?" Jenny asked herself aloud, looking around at her bright, safe room cautiously. Not only was she plagued with the idea that her mind was being played with, but she could still remember the fearful sensation of Darien walking around her room and challenging her to his own little game. She wondered if she had dreamt that too…

She leant over her bed and peered down at the space between it and her bed-side table. The bat was still gone, and the small pile of ash remained on her carpet. She couldn't have been dreaming, this was all too real, and a painful flow of questions started to fill Jenny's head. Was this the next level? Was she doing it alone? Was she back on earth or just in one of Darien's elaborate creations?

Jenny climbed out of bed and hesitantly walked towards her window, drawing the curtains all the way back and leaning over the window sill. It was a glorious morning; the street was still peaceful and deserted, only filled with the sound of birds singing and the vivid colours of the grass neatly cut in front of each house and the clear blue sky above her. It was a perfect day, but she was fully aware of Darien's ability to create effortless perfection. Nevertheless, she opened a window and breathed in the warm fresh air, sensing relief from the oppressive atmosphere in the game that was slowly coming back to her. A gentle breeze brushed across her face, and as she closed her eyes to enjoy it, she heard a faint ruffling noise behind her. Jenny turned around to find a piece of paper sweeping across her bedroom carpet and instantly shut the window to avoid losing it. She picked it up carefully and noticed how it was the same yellow tinted paper with burnt corners as the first clue she'd found in her room. She saw the beautiful black calligraphy in its centre like before, the only difference seemed to be the longer length of the paper and increased amount of stanzas. Jenny's eyes were instantly drawn to a bold title in the top centre of the paper that read LEVEL 5: INVICTUS, and then went on to read the words below it:

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced, nor cried aloud,

Under the bludgeoning of chance,

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears,

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet, the menace of the years,

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

A poem, not a riddle. Jenny shuddered at the words, how they almost drew her in, and made her want to hide all at the same time. Though it didn't give any clue as to the nature of the level, Jenny was scared. She felt vulnerable in the one place that she had always felt safe and untouchable; her room had always been the place she would go to as an escape from the dangers of the outside world, and Darien in all his cruelty had tainted it. She read the poem again, and again, grimacing at the intensity of the last two lines, words similar to something she had once said boldly to Julian. She shut her eyes for a brief moment to remember that far away time when Julian was dying in her arms, and holding the ring that would go on to mean everything to her. It still hurt her heart like a stabbing pain in her chest, and with all the pressure and stress that this game seemed to be causing, she was considering surrender, to just accept defeat and the evil of the world she lived in. She opened her eyes, and just as she did so, her alarm began to play its high-pitched jingle. Jenny turned around abruptly to turn it off, reading 10.30a.m on its screen. She remembered that she was replaying the morning after she'd met Darien, and waited patiently for her mother to shout up to her.

"Jenny, we're making pancakes down here!" Mrs Thornton called from the kitchen. Jenny didn't reply this time. Something about this morning could be very different, very dangerous, and until she knew what it was, she'd have to be very cautious.

As Jenny made her way downstairs, she warily scanned her surroundings. Everything seemed normal in the living room; the expensive furniture was all in its place, not a trace of dirt or mess anywhere, and even the sunlight seemed to be coming through the curtains correctly. Jenny slowly walked through into the kitchen, where all her family were gathered for a late breakfast.

"Are you not going to get dressed, Jennifer?" Mrs Thornton looked at her daughter disapprovingly. She was washing the pancake mix off of the kitchen utensils, hair tied back perfectly and apron secured around her waist like a model housewife. Joey was already digging into his own pile of pancakes, blissfully unaware of his sister's entrance, and Mr Thornton was hidden behind a large newspaper. Jenny watched them wordlessly for a few seconds, ignoring her mother's comment and hesitantly sitting down in one of the empty seats between her brother and father. She placed the poem on the table beside her plate. Six beautifully made pancakes were in front of her, a small lump of butter melting on top of them and maple syrup oozing down their sides. Mrs Thornton was a marvellous cook; she made many dishes for dinner parties and other extravagant social events, always flawless and presentable, but this plate of pancakes was far _too_ perfect; their smell, their arrangement on the plate, she could almost taste the sweetness just by watching the syrup drip off the edges. Darien probably planned them down to the finest detail, ensuring the smell would be alluring enough to distract her from more important matters, and so she pushed them aside defiantly.

"Is something wrong with them?" Mrs Thornton noticed Jenny's behaviour, and walked over to the remaining seat while maintaining eye contact.

"I'm not really feeling hungry right now." Jenny lied, looking to Joey who was trying to fit the last chunk of his portion in his mouth with little success. In reality she was starving; she wondered how much time had passed since she'd started the game, it felt like a few days at least, it was hard to tell without any indications. Mrs Thornton looked slightly disappointed, but quickly hid behind a painted smile and started on her pile of pancakes, while Joey started on Jenny's abandoned ones. She looked at her mother and brother in turn, subtly looking for signs of abnormality, of something that would indicate that they weren't who Darien wanted her to think they were, but her thought process was interrupted by a deep voice.

"Oh I remember this; it's one of my favourites," Mr Thornton had folded the newspaper up at some point during the brief discussion, and had seen the poem lying next to Jenny's elbow, "William Ernest Henley, the master of poetry."

Jenny couldn't help but stare at her father for a short while; they rarely spoke, rarely had anything to speak about, and now an actual conversation they could share may not even really happen at all. Still, she wondered if anything he had to say about the poem could be helpful.

"I actually don't know much about him, I don't really get the poem," his eyebrows raised in mild surprise, and realising that carrying around a poem that doesn't hold much interest to you could be considered rather weird, she continued with an excuse, "Someone said I should check this poem out, someone from work."

Mr Thornton looked at his daughter a little sceptically and chuckled before speaking, "Do you know what Invictus means?"

"No, I don't."

"It's Latin for undefeatable or unconquerable. Henley wrote that poem around the time he had to get his leg amputated, he was 17 years old at the time," he spoke as if reminiscing about an old memory, and let the image linger for a few seconds before continuing, "The poem is about self-mastery; having courage in the face of death, being brave and determined during the horrors of torture, holding your dignity despite life's obstacles. You are the master of your own fate and destiny." His tone was enthusiastic, and after he had finished explaining, he sat back contently and took a sip of his coffee. His blasé behaviour forced Jenny to consider that this couldn't be her father, full of such animation and delight about some poem, and feeling rather uncomfortable into the current silence, she focused on breathing steadily.

"Does it make sense to you now?" he asked. Jenny became aware of how attentive her family had been while he'd spoken, each of them leaning forward to indulge themselves in his words, and she nodded in reply.

"Glad I could help." He said, picking up the poem and reading it again. Joey resumed eating and Mrs Thornton cleared her throat.

"I'm so glad Mr Perry isn't using that stupid lawn mower this morning." she said quietly, apparently feeling left out by the sudden bonding session.

"Me too." Mr Thornton said aloofly, but she carried on speaking.

"And those boisterous children that are always running around the streets, I'm relieved that their parents have finally taught them some sense! One of these days a car will be driving by too fast and I don't even want to consider what would happen to the poor things." Jenny stopped listening. Her mother, or what might be her mother, had triggered an idea that elevated her panicked fear.

Outside, it was deadly quiet; the neighbours that usually resumed their daily garden chores hadn't done so, cars weren't passing their house, not a single child's voice could be heard. The tweeting of nearby birds was audible, but Jenny hadn't physically seen a single bird around when she'd looked out of her window. There was no excuse for the silence; Jenny looked at the clock on the wall that showed 11.a.m, her street was usually guaranteed to be busy around this time.

She realised the significance of the desolate feel to this place. No one else was there; except for herself and what could be her family members, who most likely were her family members, because they were the only other people with her on the level where Darien had promised special guests. They were the new players, and they had no idea what they were in for yet.

Jenny rose from her chair immediately, causing her family to jump and rise with her. Now she had realised the truth, the chaos would ensue, she was sure of it. She turned to the back door, ignoring her families' alarmed protests, meaning to open it and look outside to investigate her surroundings, and then hesitated as she realised how exposed and unarmed she was. Jenny pushed passed her panicking mother without words and reached for a knife from the counter, a long one that gleamed in the overhead lights.

"Jenny stop, please tell us what you're doing!" her mother shrieked, grabbing a fistful of her daughter's string top in an attempt to restrain her. Jenny had switched off to everything but her own fear; something was going to happen, and she needed to be ready. Her mother's piercing cries were unremitting, and her brother and father didn't seem to know what to do with themselves. Suddenly, there was a rapping knock on the front door, and they were all momentarily silenced by the tension.

"Jenny, are you in there?" a frantic voice pleaded from behind it. Dee's voice. Jenny dropped the knife to rush towards the door and open it to her friends, who gratefully poured through into her living room. They were panting heavily.

"What _was _that?" Sophie asked through small bursts of tears. No one answered.

"What was what?" Jenny demanded when Dee gathered her composure. Jenny's family were standing wearily by the kitchen door watching the scene unfold.

"Darkness. A huge tsunami-like wave of darkness." Dee spoke quietly, looking at Jenny in way that she could quite decipher.

"It just swept over everything; all the houses it passed seemed to, like, disappear." Michael gasped. His eyes were wide with shock, and Audrey clutched his hand, her own eyes filled with empathy.

"Is there anyone else out there?" Jenny asked Dee, who shrugged back.

"We kept running when we saw that darkness, then I saw your house and thought we could find you here." Zach answered, and then Jenny noticed his eyes looked beyond her and fill with realisation.

"Oh." He whispered, and all eyes followed his gaze until they noticed Jenny's family, who stared back in bemusement.

"What game are you kids playing?" Mr Thornton asked uncertainly. Joey seemed to be silently analysing their faces, while Mrs Thornton was beginning to look a little agitated.

"The special guests are your family?" Summer said in a deflated tone, "Oh this is horrible."

"We probably don't have long until that darkness reaches us, and god only knows what is waiting for us in it. We should work fast; do you have a clue Jenny?" Michael had sobered up now, and looked to Jenny expectantly.

"Not quite, it's in the kitchen, I'll go get it." She said, and on her way to retrieve it her family followed her.

"Jenny, why are your friends barging into our breakfast for this?" Mrs Thornton asked.

"I don't have time to explain mother, we're all in danger, that's all I can say." Jenny tried to push passed her mother, but her father caught her shoulders in his hands.

"Please don't tell me you're not bringing up that paper house thing again? Last time this happened Summer went missing for months and you ran away to grandpas for a week!" Jenny searched his eyes for understanding, and fell short. She had minutes before this darkness consumed them, and minutes were certainly not enough time to explain the madness of the shadow world and the creatures within it. She decided not to even bother trying, since in a matter of minutes her family would see it for themselves anyway, and probably be fighting as hard as she was to get away from it.

"I'll tell you, just let me show this to my friends, and I'll explain everything." She lied, but the lie did not reassure them at all. They were blocking her escape, and she could see her friends approaching them from over her father's shoulder, but it was too late now.

The staircase and whole right side of her house was turning a dull grey colour, enveloped in shadows that were slowly starting to creep along the carpet, ceiling and walls towards the group. Instinctively, the inhabitants of the house backed up against the furthest walls and considered escape, even Jenny's family who had no clue as to what was going on. The shadows were well passed the front door now, the only escape would be the back door, but where could they go? Darien wanted them in the shadows, and so into the shadows they would go, there was no choice in the matter, they just had to accept the inevitable with cruel anticipation. Jenny's mind wandered to the poem in these last moments, how even in the face of danger you can stay strong and defiant, how she had needed to stay strong in so many destructive experiences, and even now she was unconsciously ready to face whatever Darien would throw at her, no matter how mentally or physically corrupting it may be. _The poem is about me, _she thought to herself, and as the darkness swallowed her, she took a breath inwards.

For a while, there was only silence. Silence and darkness. Her friends were breathing heavily, not daring to utter a single word, but that was all, and it was only more unnerving that something could be happening that they were unaware of. The group mechanically moved together in a tight formation, and Joey was the first to speak.

"What happened? What's going on?" he was trying to sound brave, but his voice wasn't steady. It felt wrong to be hearing her little brother's voice in this context, and the idea of anything happening to him made Jenny's heart hurt.

"Joey, you need to try and stay very quiet." Zach whispered in a soft tone, and even when Joey tried to protest his father silenced him. He was wise enough to know that something wasn't right here.

"It echoes in here." Audrey stated, demonstrating it with her own voice, and just as the echo faded Jenny heard the very faint tick of dripping water.

"We're in a cave." Dee whispered.

"We can't be in a cave; we are in my living room." Mrs Thornton cried hysterically, and nothing could be said to follow on from that. _A shadow man used dark magic to send us to this place through a wall of shadows _didn't seem like it would be much of an answer.

"Maybe we should take a walk. There could be an opening somewhere, there has to be." Dee suggested, and Jenny felt her walk to her right as she spoke, so she followed. The whole group were moving along a cave wall carefully, holding onto each other as they moved via clothing, hair, or whatever they could get a hold on. Sure enough, they reached a part of the cave that was lit by the moonlight, and they let their eyes adjust to it. The small opening that was visible to their right presented an empty landscape with rocks resting on long, dark green grass and sparkling white stars in a stretching black sky.

"Che bello!" Audrey gasped as her eyes absorbed the scene, but it wasn't long till they heard voices.

At first, the voices seemed quite distant and harmless, but they were getting closer, one harsh bellowing voice followed by several beautiful soft ones. The group hid in a shadowed corner of the cave, urging Jenny's perplexed family in with them and listening intently. The individuals approached soon after, adorned with beautiful clothing and armour. The loud leader of this group had red hair and a long red beard, and in his hand he carried a beautiful large hammer with a short handle. There were five other men with only slightly less impressive clothing and much fairer hair than the leader, and they were all listening and replying to the abrupt demands of the red bearded man. In the centre of all of these individuals, was a similarly dressed man, with his head solemnly bowed. His hair was as black as night, but that was all that Jenny could see, he was turned away from her and totally silent. The men seemed unaware of the group's presence as they stood and conversed.

"That's Thor. How can that be Thor?" Audrey hissed to Jenny, who shrugged without turning to look at her.

"So that must be Loki then." Michael answered in reply, "This can only end badly."

Several more people were entering the cave, also dressed elaborately, both males and females. One young boy with curly black hair was being urged into the cave restrained, and another group of people were pulling a wolf into the cave via a long, heavy-looking chain. The scene broke into horrific mayhem when everyone was ready, the restrained boy was pleading for release, the wolf snarling and frothing at the mouth, and the others shouting and jeering and ordering others around. With no warning, the wolf was released and it charged towards the boy, tearing his body apart before bounding out of the cave. Jenny's group were thrown into a state of shock, but their cries were inaudible above the sound of the crowd.

"I know what's going on." Audrey admitted uneasily, "They were Loki's sons, and that crowd are the gods punishing Loki for Balder's death. I can't believe I am watching this…" The scene was uncomfortable to endure, but they all continued to watch with bile rising in their throats. The god's were reaching _into _the boy's mangled corpse and took out his guts, using them to bind Loki to three slabs of rock, wrapping it around his shoulders, under his armpits, around his hips until he was completely unable to move.

"How could they do that?" Mrs Thornton sobbed, totally absorbed in the horror unfurling before her, "This is appalling, I can't watch this."

"We're watching this for a reason." Jenny acknowledged, trying to scan the crowd surrounding Loki for clues, "This has to lead to something else."

A woman was sobbing outside of the crowd, a beautiful dark haired woman with her hair plaited and trailing to the floor. Jenny's eyes locked onto her, and she almost felt the urge to go and comfort her.

"Do you know who she is?" Jenny whispered to Audrey.

"That could be Sigyn, Loki's faithful wife; she mourned her sons and looked after Loki during his torture. This torture." She replied. Jenny continued to watch her for a while, until a slightly taller and more poorly dressed woman entered the cave holding a long, vicious-looking snake in her hand.

"That's Skadi, a giantess who used Loki's torture to avenge her father's death." Audrey added. Skadi was securing the snake to a stalactite above Loki's face, and Loki lay there accepting his fate. Jenny could see his eyes now, not very well but enough to see the colour of them as they stared blankly up at the ceiling of the cave. One of his eyes was a sapphire blue, like Julian's, and the other a bright green, like Darien's. He looked just as unearthly beautiful as the shadow men too, but wore such a look of sorrow on his face that Jenny wanted to weep for him, to drain him of all of his pain and anguish. The gods and goddesses were leaving, and the giantess, so that only Loki, Sigyn and the group were left in the cave, left to the eerie silence and the frequent tapping of water onto the ground in the distance. The snake was dripping poison onto Loki's face, and while he writhed in pain, Sigyn rushed out of the cave.

"Enjoying the show?" The group swung round to face Darien, who was leaning against the cave opening watching their faces intently. He was dressed in the same ostentatious clothing as Loki; emerald green breeches with simple black boots over the top of them, a thin, rich green undershirt with gold armour moulding to the shape of his perfectly toned body, and a long flowing green cape trailing behind him. He looked impressive, almost god-like with his chin raised defiantly and eyes that watched the group with a threatening authority.

"Who are you?" Mr Thornton demanded. Darien smiled and languidly turned towards him.

"I'm rather disappointed that Jenny hasn't already introduced me," He glanced her way playfully, his angelic smile secretly mocking them; "I thought we had finally bonded in our last engagement." Unlike Tom, Mr Thornton instantly registered a hint of threat to his polite tone, and silenced himself. Even with her back turned to her friends, Jenny knew that they all shared the same hateful gaze by Darien's eventual change of mood.

"Oh dear, you're all looking a little discontent, I feel I have…wronged you somehow." He was teasing them, trying to rile them up for another one-sided battle that he wasn't ashamed to admit he took pleasure in. There didn't seem to be anything to say back to that, but just as Jenny opened her mouth to change the subject, Dee spoke.

"That's quite an understatement." She growled with gritted teeth. This amused him, and he allowed a cat-like smile to replace his innocent façade.

"Quite." He grinned at her, and then rested his eyes on Jenny again. The silence only lasted for a short second, before the question was repeated, with more persistence.

"Who are you? Why are we here?" Jenny's father's patience was faltering, but it seemed that this hadn't angered Darien. Yet.

"Tell me Mr, Mrs and Master Thornton, do you believe in fairy-tales?" baffled, they shook their heads slowly in reply.

"That's foolish of you, because every fairy-tale, no matter how far away from real you think it is, holds an element of truth. A moral, more importantly." He was advancing a few more steps towards them, almost standing by Jenny's side now so he could talk to her family directly. Jenny's friends were standing alert on either side of the Thorntons,

"This is as true as the stories of the bible, stories about betrayal, greed, bravery, evil, above all evil. These morals can be subtle, and in the more sinister fairy-tales, evil is the darkness, those things hiding in the shadows that trap you when you least expect it, and always win, are always triumphant over good." He spoke as if passionately narrating his favourite story, creating an atmosphere that chilled to the bone, "I am that evil, I am the creature of the darkness that will always, always win." His smug expression was for the girl at his side, who suddenly felt very tuned out. This message seemed so normal now; she'd heard it said so many times in so many different ways, that it didn't have the spine-tingling eeriness that it used to possess.

"Is there a point to this level then?" Michael urged. The group had been largely left out of the conversation, and valuable time was lost when Darien spoke. He had made his way back to the front of the crowd huddled in the darkness, preparing his next big speech and pushing his long, gleaming cape behind him.

"This is not so much a level than a little lesson I want to teach to dear Jenny," his hand was gesturing to Loki, who now had Sigyn sitting by his side holding a wooden bowl above his head, collecting the venom as it dripped from the viper's lips. She had been so distracted that she hadn't noticed Sigyn return, "This is a very significant fairy-tale within Norse Mythology, The Binding of Loki.

"You see, Loki was known for his mischief, he was always playing pranks on the gods and doing reckless things that were sure to displease others, but he always set out to fix them afterwards. He was more misunderstood than evil, but his punishment for the murder of Odin's son, Balder, was a cruel one. You just witnessed everything that he willingly endured, and that they willingly carried out, to seek revenge. The gods, so purely thought of as protectors and icons of wholesomeness, created such an unthinkable torture as this. They punished murder with a long, painful torture and no remorse."

Jenny was listening intently to his summary of the story. She realised that Julian had spoken many a time of the cruelty of the world, had tried to persuade her that succumbing was the easiest escape, but witnessing it like this had suddenly made her believe it. An ancient story such as this had to have been created by someone, who must have developed the idea for the plot; the murder, the torture, the poor faithful wife left behind desperately trying to save the man she loved, wasting her own life for him. All of these things stimulated the part of her mind that had only recently been freed. Her dark side.

"Life isn't fair; it has never been fair, and never will be. There will always be an evil force driving people to discriminate, torture, kill, again and again, and there is no fighting it. Good has never truly triumphed over evil, not even in the fairy-tales." He was walking back towards her, speaking more softly, almost beckoning her to understand. It felt like everyone else in the cave had just disappeared, and Darien and Jenny shared a strange look, a moment of total understanding and acceptance. For a split second, she saw him as a human, a guy who strongly believed in the things he stood for, and who didn't even understand himself how much he wanted others to just get him. She _agreed _with him, she had lived in the world for long enough now to know how nasty people could be, how much innocence has been lost to the ever-changing norms of life that eventually corrupt society. Her perception of the world was darker, her connection to the beauty of the world lost, and Jenny couldn't forget even in this dismal setting how trapped she had felt by fear, paranoia, curiosity, confusion….

Dee had been saying something to him, in her far away state Jenny could still make out the words 'Aba' and 'proof'. It was only natural that Dee would fight back; the very message that Jenny had held onto about returning good for evil was the one Deirdre had grown up with.

"And now she is deceased. Death has consumed her, is that not proof enough?" Darien replied finally, and Dee was lost for words. The memory of Aba's lifeless body was a powerful and painful one, she didn't want to remember.

"Now, if you would like to follow me, we must continue onto level 6, the final instalment in my little game." He walked towards the entrance that he had come through and waited for them to follow him out, "I thought it would be appropriate to invite your family to such a significant event in your life, the salvation of your precious Julian." His eyes ridiculed her, he said the last line as if such a thought was insane, but the grin had returned to his lips, and those bright green eyes followed Jenny as she exited the darkness and walked into the moonlight outside.

"I've altered the landscape a little to make a shortcut into my desired location." He spoke with easily politeness, leading the group of ten to a colourful sparkling bridge that stretched from the hill in front of them into the far distance, clouds obscuring the other side of it. The bridge didn't seem stable; it was semi-transparent and consisted of a rainbow-patterned mist that lazily bobbed up and down in the air, but when Dee placed at uncertain hand on the bridge's entrance, the bridge seemed to somehow be solid. Darien watched calmly as each individual carefully climbed onto the rainbow bridge and became familiar with the strange surface.

"Bifrost awaits you." He announced boldly without humour, before fading away into the darkness. A confusion and anticipation was silently shared as the group gazed out into the concealed space around them, wondering what could be waiting for them on the other side.

"Let's go." Audrey, who had been silent for a while now, beckoned them to move from the front, "The sooner we can finish this game, the better."

**Chapters 12 to 14 have been roughly planned out so far, I think I know how I'm ending this story, and I'll write it and post it ASAP**


	12. Chapter 12

**Once again, I've had quite a long break from adding to this story, so I'm really really sorry, don't hurt me. Some of my reason is due to the fact that when I usually start writing a story, I get bored halfway through and abandn it, but I don't feel like I can do it on , so I promise I will try and finish this story for you. **

**Chapter 12, I can just tell already, might be a major let-down for some of you, but I didn't want a cliché ending, so I tried adding a bit of a twist (which seemed to fail terribly). I will accept criticisms for my lack of creativity, and I'm sorry to anyone I let down with this one. R & R**

Chapter 12

The bridge seemed to stretch on forever; a winding rainbow road made of the wonders of light and the eeriness of mist, encased in a thick wall of fog made the journey very discomforting. The width of the bridge was only enough to allow a single file line, which forced another unbearable silence to descend upon the wanderers and let their minds flick through thoughts of the other side, the final level that awaited them at the end of this lengthy bridge. Jenny's eyes were fixed onto the golden hair swaying in front of her face, mainly because it was all she could see through the fog, but also because the more she saw of Sophie, the more she thought about her past self. It hadn't taken her long to deduce why she had such an interest in Sigyn, and wonder why she had so much sympathy for this girl. Jenny once felt that way about a boy, would have done anything for him, and would have stayed with him no matter what. The part that seemed to be irrevocably in love with Tom, before she had become drawn to the darkness, before she had learnt the malevolent nature of her world. Jenny was lost now; she felt her attractions to the shadows, the desire to become a part of them, and it even frightened her how comfortable she felt in this mist, shielded from the eyes of others. Everything she'd once fought to defend was so alien to her now.

"You'll never guess where we are guys!" Zach's unusually excited voice called from the front of the line, and as the mist cleared they could see it for themselves. The worlds were below them and above them again, worlds of fire and mist and of beautiful structures built from gold. As expected, the white tollbooth and coin receiver were in their usual place by the entrance of the bridge- leading into the shadow park.

"Oh, not this place again. It gave me the creeps the first time." Michael sighed. Jenny's heart began to pound, _this is it, _she thought to herself, _this is where he is keeping Julian_. The white and yellow striped turnstile was up, so they all poured through the gap and assembled around the entrance. They all turned back to see that the distance they had travelled was gone, and just like the last time they were here, all that was visible was the island across the bridge with its artificial lake, lighthouse and small rides scattered around it.

"We need to find the arcade." Jenny said with such certainty, that her friends looked shocked for a moment.

"How do you know that is where we need to be?" Audrey asked, eyeing Jenny with concern.

"Because, I dreamt about this moment. Julian is in the arcade, in the fortune telling box." Speaking the words unnerved her. Was she really about to face Julian in his imprisoned state? The group seemed to consider the information, probably wondering if she had finally lost the plot, but the calm of the scenario was interrupted by Mrs Thornton.

"It's real." She gasped uncomprehendingly, "Everything you told us about is real?"

"What's real?" Joey look panicked watching his mother lose control, mainly because she'd rarely lost control in Joey's lifetime, but the panic was spreading. The same expression appeared on Sophie's face, trying to work out what was happening while avoiding conversation with those responsible for Tom's death.

"This…Shadow Park. I don't understand…." Without warning, Jenny's mother broke down into uncontrollable tears, and Mr Thornton wrapped his arms around her without a moment's hesitation. It was heart-breaking to watch her family crumble into hysteria, but equally wonderful watching her father do something Jenny hadn't see him do in many years; embrace his wife. She couldn't help but be reminded how the trauma of the games brought people together….

"Jenny," Dee urged with sympathy in her eyes "We really need to get moving."

Jenny contemplated this for a second, looking over the small group of newcomers, then walked up to them and huddled them around her.

"Mother, father, Joey and Sophie," she acknowledged them each in turn, excusing the fact that Sophie couldn't look her in the eye, "I know this is scary, and I can't guarantee that it's going to be alright, because chances are things will get worse from here. But I need you to trust me when I say, that we will all protect you, no matter what." She waited for them to accept this before turning back to her friends and composing herself.

"Right, let's find the arcade then. Quickly."

They started to head off, Michael, Audrey and Jenny walking in the front, Sophie and Jenny's family in the middle, and Summer, Zach and Dee trailing behind like an organised school trip. None of the rides were on this time, which only made the task of walking through the lifeless park worse.

"We have all the clues, right? Because I'm pretty sure they'll come in handy for this level." Michael asked Jenny, taking the clues out from his pocket and going through them carefully.

"Yeah, I think we..." but they didn't. Jenny hadn't been able to grab the poem before the darkness had whisked them away. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Michael wide eyed, while the others slowed behind her.

"No, we don't. I left the last one in my kitchen." Michael tried to hide his worry; he gave the pile he had one last scan before looking back to her with a weak attempt at reassurance.

"I'm sure I can remember it from the pieces we have already, it will be hard but doable. If only I could remember the name of it." He scratched his head thoughtfully, which only made Jenny feel worse. This could all be for nothing, and without fulfilling the purpose of the game, they could be trapped here. Forever. And it was all her fault. She was about to start apologizing too, when her mum's voice interrupted.

"Dad?" Mrs Thornton gasped, and the group followed her gaze to the ghostly figure of Eric Evenson, dressed in the same clothing from Jenny's dreams, smiling back at his adult daughter from his place by the entrance of the Tunnel of Love and Despair. She wandered over to him slowly, cautiously, tears of joy and inner sadness welling up in her eyes, tears that had probably been pushed to the back of her mind for years. She was closely followed by Mr Thornton, as a sort of loving protection from the dangers of this place that he was yet to understand. Jenny really wanted to follow her too, she was aware this could be another trap, but her grandfather had helped her in her dream, he was a symbol of guidance and support to her, so she wearily let her mother approach him. The other members of the group were also on standby, waiting attentively while Mrs Thornton had her short moment with her dad and willingly took something that he was offering before he disappeared, then walked back to them with sore, red eyes.

"He wanted me to give you this." She said to Jenny meekly, handing Jenny a tattered piece of paper with another part to the bind rune on it.

"Thank you." She whispered to her mother. She turned to give the clue to Michael, then back to her mother to shield her in a big hug, which was appreciatively returned.

"Oh thank the gods! The name is on the other side!" Michael screeched with a little too much excitement after they had finished hugging, "Lásabrjótur! That's it!" he looked up to find that no one could share his glee, "It means lock breaker."

"We still don't have the last clue though." Audrey reminded him.

"I don't need it now, I have enough, and looking at this much of it, I'm pretty sure the left side is identical to the right side, like a mirrored design."

"Perfect." Dee came striding towards her friends from the back of the group, "Then what are we waiting for? I really want to get out of the open before a headless body attacks one of us again."

"I remember it being this way." Jenny said, leading her group to their final destination.

"Do you hear that?" Audrey asked. Of course they could; the low, threatening hum emanating from the arcade was totally unavoidable. It was not easy to identify either; it could be machine, man or monster, but was most definitely a deception, a way for Darien to scare the players into giving up. For some, it was working.

"I don't want to go in there!" Sophie sounded shocked at the mere thought of it, and started to back away from the building with small steps. Zach walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"Yes." She seemed horrified that he even had to ask.

"Then we have to go in there. It's your choice."

She searched his eyes for a while, contemplating whether she could trust him. It was only when Zach released her shoulders that she seemed to make a decision, and look to Jenny, without making eye contact.

"What is in there?" she mumbled. Jenny turned to inspect the outside of the menacing building before her, with the tall, red double doors that stood between her friends and the dangers awaiting them, before looking back to Sophie,

"Something unpleasant." she replied, knowing there was nothing she could say to make this any easier for such a fragile soul such as Sophie's.

Jenny turned back to the door and looked at the handle for a while. She knew once that door was open, there was no turning back, no running away from the purpose of this game. She wanted to go in to save Julian, every second she stood there was another moment of agonising torture for him, but what was lurking in that arcade room? What special traps had Darien set for his prey?

"Right." Jenny said to herself, taking slow steps towards the door, and closing her hands around the handles. Her friends and family were close around her, Dee had automatically positioned herself to Jenny's right ready to kick at whatever planned to jump out at them, and Audrey, Michael, Summer and Zach stood behind her like a small army. Sophie and Jenny's family stood much further back, ready to run when things got bad, or so she presumed. She pulled the handles down, which made a uncomfortable squeaky sound, and pushed the doors open into the arcade room.

The room was electrified with the sound of machines, just as it had been in her dreams, and she reluctantly moved further into the room, waiting for the door to shut behind the others. Her eyes immediately fixed onto the fortune telling box at the back of the arcade, which was not covered by a cloth but was still too dim to see inside. It didn't matter. She knew what was in it.

"What's going on?" Joey shouted over the commotion. It probably wasn't a rhetorical question, but no one answered; all available ears were shielded from the eerily dragging fairground music. Jenny kept her eyes permanently fixed on the fortune telling box on the other side of the room, talking herself into striding up to it and evoking the rune before anything else could stop her.

But it was never going to be that simple.

The noise ceased, and hands were released from ears slowly, with eyes scanning the room. Jenny finally tore her eyes away from the box and looked around to the various wooden cabinets. Little wooden puppet shows to activate, the grandfather clock, the 'Yes and No' box, they already felt wrong in this familiar silence, but the fact that there were newly replenished rotting heads in the 'Yes and No' box, and the little wooden dolls didn't seem so wooden, was far more unsettling than anything else. She wanted someone to say something, to acknowledge the information she was processing, but the voices started. Low, monotonous voices, speaking in unison like some strange chant.

"_I, slipping on slime-edged stones,_

_To that dark place by rusty foxfire lit,_

_Where they lie waiting, fingering old bones,_

_Go with my question…."_

The poem was spoken with a hint of anguish in those voices, all speaking exactly in time, like they were one being. It echoed around the room, echoed through the bones and minds of their audience, so that everyone felt the utter sorrow behind these ancient hypnotic words, even if its meaning wasn't understood. The voices were coming from the corpses in the machines; Jenny watched their mouths move in time to the words, perfectly clear despite their limp, decomposing lips, with an unsettling sensation in her stomach. They were corpses that were mere left overs of the sorcerers or overly-curious messing with forbidden things, reciting their punishment like a class of bored children,

"_I take my puzzle. Like the other fools_

_Who've slipped on these same stones and played and lost_

_I come because I must. I have no choice._

_The Game is timeless and now I've lost,"_

Jenny sensed someone putting a hand to their mouth. She thought it was Sophie, but turned to find out it was Summer, overwhelmed with the amount of suffering in the room. Jenny turned back and defiantly inhaled, letting her eyes close only for a second to mourn these endlessly tormented souls, then took a step. And another. And another. The group behind her didn't follow this time.

"_I leave them waiting there below._

_I hear them laughing as I go."_

As the last line was spoken, a haunting cackle took the place of the voices; beginning with a single, low melodious sound that became more and more insane as others joined in. The shadow men were watching her, from any one of the shadows in the room; maybe all of them. Jenny didn't stop. She was gradually closing the distance between herself and the cabinet that would end it all, would save the people she loved. All of them.

A mist was seeping into the room from an unknown place, full of peril and threat. It was wrapping itself around their legs, pulling them into its clutches, but there wasn't time to be frightened by it now. There was also an unmistakeable drop in the temperature, so much so that Jenny didn't even realise she had brought up her arms to hug herself for warmth. This was enough to move her friends; they seemed to have been activated by the icy atmosphere surrounding them, and Jenny wasn't completely sympathetic. She didn't want to have to face this alone.

_Jennyyyyyy._ A distinct whisper from the cackling beckoned to her, and momentarily stopped her in her tracks. It belonged to a voice she recognised, but from a faraway memory, something she'd only heard once before. It had to be one of the elders, because it certainly wasn't human. Other voices joined him, calling her friends' names, tantalising them with their irresistibly musical tones. The cold air had turned to a light breeze that was quickly progressing into a whistling gale. Jenny continued forward, hoping the others were following her, pushing through the wind that was trying to pull her back. The corpses were speaking again, adding to the mayhem with a reprise of the poem, spoken louder but in the same, droning tone.

"_Where they lie waiting, fingering old bones,_

_Go with my question. Deep into the pit…"_

_Summmmmerrrrr._

Through squinted eyes, Jenny could make out the fortune telling box a little distance away from her. She focused on her goal, and allowed herself to look back once to check her friends were close.

"_And truth is told but always at a cost…"_

_Miiiiiichaelllllllll._

They weren't directly behind her, but they were on the right track. Dee was urging her friends forward, and shouting words to them that Jenny couldn't make out over the piercing scream of the wind and the many other voices whistling into it.

"_I come because I must. I have no choice…"_

_Auddddreyyyyyyyy._

She turned back, leaning forward to pick up speed, and concentrated on her steps. 6 more strides left, 5 more strides….

"_So I must pay the final cost…"_

_Dierrrrdrrrreeeeeee._

She was so close, she could almost grasp the corner of the cabinet now. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul, Jenny remembered how the words were for her. She couldn't give up now.

"_I hear them laughing as I go…."_

_Zaaaaacharyyyyyy._

There! Her hand clutched the corner, fingers locking around the wooden border of the cabinet surrounding the glass, and hauled herself towards it until she could hug the box to her body. The pandemonium died down with her heavy breathing, and everyone including Jenny collapsed to the floor with exhaustion.

"We need to evoke that rune right now." Jenny gasped to Michael, who was propping himself up into a sitting position.

"Right, yeah." He sighed, reaching into his pockets for the clues, "I need a knife."

"Will a pocket multi-tool work?" Mr Thornton offered without question. It was strange how situations like these could change the rules of humanity so dramatically. Michael took it from him with a weak, strained smile in place of verbal gratitude, and began to arrange the clues so he could form the bindrune. Jenny watched him attentively, and saw the knife move towards the cabinet, ready to start the carving, when Michael was unexpectedly shoved into her. She fell into a cabinet behind her, head first, and the sudden impact stunned her for a long moment. She watched her friends scuttling away from something, Michael was backing away with the knife held up defensively, eyes wide with disgust and fear. When the confusion faded, the thing that had stepped out of the shadows, which looked horrifically familiar, was looming over her.

It was black and charred, and smelt of foul, putrid flesh. The eyes were a terrifying contrast in its eye sockets, which were looking down at her with wide pupils and barely visible gold-flecked green irises.

"Hello Thorny." Tom's voice was the worst of it; less a voice than a growl, a gargling, throaty sound that seemed too distorted to be associated with anything human. Except this wasn't him anymore, Tom Locke was gone, and in his place was an obedient servant to the Shadow Race, a heartless creature of the darkness who would use Tom's body as their own little puppet.

Jenny backed away as fast as she could, but it had taken hold of her legs and was pulling her back. Dee reacted in no time, landing a kick in the thing's chest and sending it backward into another row of cabinets. Jenny had just enough time to scramble to her feet and turn to Michael before it was reaching out for her arm, trying to pull her back down to the floor.

"Michael! Do it now!" she screamed as Dee impacted her fist with its arm, sending Jenny stumbling backwards, without knocking her onto the ground again. Michael returned to where the bind rune lay on the floor, and proceeded to carve into the wooden fortune telling box more hurriedly.

"Help me restrain him!" Dee ordered, twisting its arms behind its back with all the strength she could muster. Zach, Audrey and Jenny moved in to help, but the thing broke free from her grip and swung a blow into Dee's face just as they reached her, and she fell unconscious into the wall of cabinets. In another quick movement, it reached out for Jenny's neck and lifted her so her feet were helplessly dangling, so she was forced to stare wide-eyed into the savage eyes of her predator, which had started to glow a startling shade of green.

"Where's the fight in you Jenny?" that awful voice came again, trembling threw her bones, rising bile in her imprisoned throat. She heard her friend's screams and panic from behind Tom's body, deciding the best way to save their friend. Beating his back like Audrey was doing didn't bother him, and Summer's beckoning he didn't even seem to hear. She couldn't even imagine how her family was dealing with this madness.

"Michael, give me that knife!" Zach demanded in the same tone he had used trying to rescue Jenny in the first game.

"But, I'm almost fini…"

"No!" Jenny cried in her strangled voice, causing the thing to half smile up at her, "Don't stop carving!"

She scratched at the arm holding her up and kicked at its chest as hard as she could, hoping that Michael would have the sense to listen to her. It stared into her eyes, mocking her vulnerability, her pathetic attempt to escape its death grip. It _wanted _her to die this way, Darien would relish in his victory. He had told her he would win.

Then why would he give her this opportunity? She realised with great defeat that he wouldn't. There would be a far more powerful obstacle in the way, something that would be affecting Michael, and not her. He had made this too easy; the wind and the voices, that was not something that was meant to stop them; it was a spectacle. To make the moment more interesting. Darien must have understood the change of expression of Jenny's face, because he decided to drop her. She fell to the floor feeling numb and lifeless, even the pain caused by the fall hadn't registered as she reluctantly lifted her head to watch Michael slash the blood-stained bind rune with his index finger.

The fortune telling box started to light up slowly, followed by an eerie blue light that grew until it illuminated the entire cabinet. The light was too blinding to look at for long, and Jenny only caught a three second glimpse of Julian's wooden prison before she had to shield her eyes from its intensity. She heard the sound of glass smashing, and then it was over. The light vanished, and all that was left of Julian's release was a pile of broken glass surrounding the cabinet. In the place of his wooden figure sat an ordinary looking wizard that faintly resembled her grandfather.

"It that it?" Michael asked disappointedly. Jenny got on her feet and walked up to the cabinet, holding down a deep sadness that she was scared to unleash.

"But…where's Julian?" Summer sounded confused and upset by this uneventful outcome. She looked to Jenny, who was feeling the wooden surface of the cabinet, ignoring the unanswered questions that she knew the answers to. She was glad she realised before Michael had evoked the rune, otherwise this agonising pain building in her stomach would have been harder to contain. She hoped to feel some of his energy, some of his life, still trapped in this wood, but at the same time she was glad he was finally free from Darien.

"Congratulations. You have reached the end of the game." As if on cue, Darien's mesmerizing voice poisoned Jenny's ears, and she turned to face him with as much hatred in her expression as she could fathom. He was standing by Tom's corpse, which was collapsed on the floor by his feet. She imagined he had stepped out of it while she'd had her back turned.

"Where is he?" Audrey asked, "Where's Julian?"

"Well, he isn't in there anymore." He casually gestured to the fortune telling box, briefly making eye contact with the enraged Jenny standing in front of it.

"That doesn't answer my question."

Darien smiled cunningly, a playful secret behind those audacious green eyes. Jenny noticed he was wearing his gothic ringmaster outfit again, and holding his top hat. He took three slow, precise steps towards Audrey, holding her eyes while he adjusted the hat on his perfectly styled black hair.

"He is with my elders, for now."

"So…he's not coming back?" Michael said the words as if confirming them. Audrey turned to look at Jenny with absolute unquestioning sympathy in her eyes, but Jenny's hard stare was fixed onto the side of Darien's head, waiting for him to address her.

Darien chuckled musically, "Of course not! Why would I bring him back?"

"Because that was the deal, you promised!" Summer screeched at him. She seemed to feel as betrayed as Jenny in her desperate, almost pleading cry. Zach tugged at her arm, urging her back into his protection when Darien's eyes moved to her.

"I made no promises," he corrected defensively, "But I did make agreements with Jenny." He turned to look her now, that same little secret hidden behind his wolfish grin.

"I said I would grant you his freedom," Darien pulled the rune stave out from his jacket pocket, and a knife that Jenny remembered all-too clearly. A knife with a very specific purpose. Jenny watched with an uncomfortable stinging starting behind her eyes as Darien brought the knife to the stave and slashed the runes out of it without a second thought. Like crossing out a mistake. If Julian had been brought back at all, she was certain now that he was gone. When she was sure he wasn't going to continue, she spoke.

"And returning him to me?" she asked in a low, controlled voice. This made him grin.

"Well I can't do that now, can I? Didn't you just watch me carve him out of existence?" she knew this was coming, just like she'd known she wasn't getting him back. He had never intended to, since she hadn't really won. She hadn't defeated Darien.

"You tricked us. You _lied _to us!" Summer was crying now. Jenny understood why now; she had been the only one who believed the games had changed people for the better, and now she had to watch her friend become crushed and ridiculed by them.

"Jenny always knew, deep down, she was never going to see him again," he was walking over to Jenny, eyes piercing into hers, savouring the vengeful anger he saw there, "that's why she's been mourning him."

It took every ounce of her self-control to refrain from trying to fight the psychopathic monster standing right in front of her, excitedly anticipating her reaction. _Willing _her to explode. It was what he wanted more than anything, it would be a good reason to kill her.

"Why did you do this? What have you gained from your game?" Jenny was finding steady breathing difficult now, her calm façade was quickly slipping as she burned into her enemies eyes.

"My game," his eyelids dropped for a short moment, "Wasn't with you Jenny. It was with Julian. He believed you weren't stupid enough to come back into the Realm of Shadows for anything, not even him," His tone was horribly polite, a mood that didn't match the menace of his features, "I thought this incorrect, and I was right. You are stupid enough." Jenny's eyes turned to slits. She bit down hard on the insides of her mouth, and hands clenched into fists. The control was slipping far too quickly.

"My toy was becoming boring, so as an individual who was literally born to entertain, I thought I would give my ancestors a well-needed finale to unfinished business." Darien explained, and a faint echo of The Elder's devious cackling surrounded Darien as he bowed mockingly to his audience.

Jenny couldn't hold her anger in any longer. Without caring about the consequences, she slapped Darien across the face, as hard as she could muster, knowing it wouldn't hurt him. She wanted to do it for her, she wanted to let out all of the hidden pain and longing for the man she could never have, it didn't matter what happened to her anymore. She didn't care.

"You asshole! You sick, repugnant piece of..." she was mindlessly launching blows at him now, even though the abuse was hurting her instead of him, and because of this, Darien let her. He didn't stop her, he didn't flinch, he only watched with total satisfaction. When she was breathless and sure she'd broken her knuckles, he let out a dreamy sigh.

"If only you'd shown some of that rage during the game. We could have had such fun you and I. But now I am tiring of you, and I want you to leave." He gestured towards the door of the arcade with a courteous smile on his lips, "Thank you for playing a part in Julian's defeat."

"You're not going to kill us?" Michael asked. Dee was getting up, and Audrey and Summer were by her side, presumably explaining the situation.

"I have no reason to. This is me finishing off the stupidity that Julian started for my Elders; Julian was fully shamed, Jenny's family bared witness to Jenny's story, Tom is dead, though that one wasn't originally planned, have I missed anything out?" he was being so casual, it was hard to believe he had tortured them for the past few days, "I have proven my ability to carry out a successful game, I have demonstrated my imaginative skills and deceptions, I will be a far more reliable investment for my Elders. I will be good at hunting my prey, but you, I have no claim to. Not yet."

Jenny's mind was clear of all questions now. She had discovered so much in such a short time, that her head ached. For the first time in a while, she looked over to Sophie and her family; the horrified and confused spectators who'd listened without questioning the reasons behind anything because they knew they could never understand. Whose lives had now changed forever, and it was all her fault.

"We may meet again one day, under much more fatal circumstances. But for now, I have no more need for you."

Just like that, it was over. Darien disappeared, and they were left bewildered and weary until they finally decided to follow his orders, and went through the double doors, hoping they would lead them home.

**So yeah, thoughts? I'll start writing the last two chapters as soon as I can force myself to.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Right, this chapter has taken FOREVER! Mostly because of college work that I have now handed in, demands from my friends and family to be social, and the fact that I only ever really get time to write this between 12 midnight and 5 in the morning, hence why you'll find so many mistakes and adjective repetition blah blah blah...**

**I've let a lot of you down with my last chapter, so I hope this one manages to cheer you guys up a bit! Once again, sorry for the time I took for this, I'll start writing the last chapter hopefully tomorrow and will be done ASAP. Let me know what you think!**

Chapter 13

"Tom Locke. I haven't really found the right words to explain how much of an influence Tom had on my life, or how much he meant to me. For a very long time, what seems like most of my life actually, our school friends called us Tom-and- Jenny, like we were a single unit. Every morning before the bell would go at school, we would find each other before our friends arrived, and as school ended we would…" She let out a reminiscent chuckle, a brief sound that echoed both her fond memories of the boy she once loved and the sadness brought on by so many recent events. She didn't want to finish her sentence, knowing it shouldn't have even come out of her mouth at all, not with Sophie intently watching her in the front row of the crowded church. She didn't need to look up to know that Sophie was doing this; Jenny could feel hundreds of judgemental eyes burning into her guilty core, probably trying to wonder how she could be so close to Tom if he had never mentioned her before.

She tried to continue speaking, but her voice was too shaky now, and she felt an overwhelming urge to cry. Perhaps it was paranoia that convinced her of everyone's hatred towards her, or maybe it was just the guilt, knowing that she really was the reason that Tom was dead. Desperately, she scanned the crumpled paper in her hands to find something she could fill this terrible silence with. A solitary tear fell onto the left corner of the paper, and Jenny cleared her throat resolutely.

"I'm sorry I didn't try harder to keep my friendship with you, it's something I'll always regret. It's going to be that little bit emptier in the world without you, but someone once told me that nothing dies as long as it's not forgotten, and I will never forget you Tom."

She wished she could say more, but talking about their past felt unacceptable now. How could she possibly talk of her memories with Tom, when all the fond ones were shared when they were in a relationship together? There were so many reasons those mental images didn't fit into this moment, so she stepped away from the podium without another word and cagily searched for her row. She found herself unconsciously perusing the rows of people mourning Tom as she walked. The room was absolutely full, every seat and appropriate standing place occupied by mourners. Of course it was, Tom made friends with everyone wherever he went, the whole of his previous schools and new college were likely to have turned up to pay their respects to him. Like he was some kind of saint, Jenny thought to herself, but the thought wasn't amusing, it was merely disheartening. Jenny had always seen Tom as safe and warm, and now she realised that is how everyone saw him, just a loving, comforting friend. And she had sent him to his death.

Michael had already stood up and shuffled along the row to make his way up to the podium; it was her friends' turns now, and then there would be a long list of other people she'd never met talking about how Tom had changed their lives. As Jenny passed Michael on that long path to the podium, they shared a brief look of encouragement, and in that fleeting moment she caught a glimpse of Sophie slightly beyond his shoulder. Her head was bowed to conceal her sadness, hair hanging limply either side of her face, and even with her facial features hidden behind the curtain of gold, Jenny could see tears falling onto her black skirt. She looked down at Sophie's hands, which were clasped shut around something silver, like a cross or a piece of jewellery that was most likely something of Tom's. Another wave of guilt passed through her; she shouldn't have brought up the past, how could she have possibly thought that was acceptable with Tom's girlfriend mourning him right in front of her? _You're a selfish, heartless girl Jennifer Thornton, _she mentally told herself, slumping wordlessly into her seat without losing sight of Sophie. She was now looking at the back of her golden head, between many other heads that would entirely conceal her if they were to move. She didn't even notice Dee slip a lean arm around her shoulders comfortingly; her thoughts were totally fixed on Sophie. _I have to speak to her, _she decided with an uneasy sensation forming in the pit of her stomach.

Michael had started his speech; she could hear his voice but the words weren't registering in her brain, something that had happened frequently since they'd come back to their own world. It had been well past midnight when they'd returned to the empty market place with only the distant hoots of owls to fill the strange silence. Darien had been merciful enough to return Tom's charred corpse to them for a proper burial, though finding an excuse for why he was killed so inhumanely had been impossible. They'd had to agree that no one knew why, that it was an incident entirely unrelated to them, even if Sophie spent most of her time with him. Jenny looked beyond Michael to the coffin holding Tom's body; she assumed that his friend's imagination were running wild about his cause of death, since there had been no open casket last week, and no one who had seen his body had been able to explain what they'd seen. One authoritative figure who Jenny supposed was the funeral organiser explained to one of Tom's friends that it would've only caused more pain to look at him. Of course, it was too late for Jenny, too late for any of those who had watched Tom die slowly; that distorted corpse would haunt them forever more, Sophie would always see him burn horrifically right in front of her, Jenny would never forget his possessed body strangling her with a wild, barbaric grin. She glanced towards Mr and Mrs Locke, sitting in the front row, sat very close together facing away from Jenny. She couldn't begin to imagine how they were dealing with any of this, how awful it was that their son had been violently burnt with no explanation, and died so young, before he could achieve any of the things that the handsome talented Tom Locke was bound to achieve. Their heads were also bowed; she knew their thoughts were miles away from the church right now. Jenny looked at her own parents sitting further along her row, heads held high. Whether that was to see over the many heads blocking their view of the podium, or a sign of their newfound determination to face every tragedy with a sense of dignity didn't matter to Jenny. They had suffered a great deal in the past fortnight with all the confusion and knowledge the games had given them, but they were holding hands in this moment and bouncing off each other's strength. She wanted to smile, but she was unable to, not on a day of so much despair. She couldn't see her younger brother hidden behind her parent's figures.

Summer scooted back into the row, and Jenny was embarrassed to realise she had zoned out on all of her friends speeches, and Tom's college friends were next up to say a few words about him. She tried to listen to reminiscing about exciting moments in a football game they'd won, how Tom was such an inspiration to them all, only to find she didn't want to know. That was his new life that he'd worked hard to keep her away from, and she almost felt like an intruder here among his new friends. Instead, she stopped listening again and once more found herself staring at his coffin. Something about it made Jenny feel uneasy. It took a while to decide that it was the glossy white surface of the coffin; Tom's nightmare started with a small white box that we was pulled into, and ended in much the same way, like some cruel inside joke of the Shadow men. It made her feel angry for only a second, before the feeling fizzled into nothing. Jenny was tired of fighting the darkness.

As his last college friend expressed how much their life would change now that Tom was gone, the room prepared to take the coffin to its grave. Jenny's group huddled together, sharing silent exchanges of support before making their way to the front of the church. Jenny couldn't help but watch Sophie, who seemed to distance herself from everyone else as she left the church, staying very close to the coffin. Jenny pushed through the crowd carefully to get closer to her, eyes fixed on the golden head fuelled by a determination to speak her mind. So many tiring thoughts swam around in her head, dizzying things like '_is Tom really dead? Is he stuck in the shadow world like Summer once was?_' and '_If I hadn't let myself love Julian, all of this could have been avoided…._' Julian. She hadn't allowed the thought of him to enter her mind for so long, and now it seemed to overpower every other thought. She still felt the ache in her heart where she longed for his icy blue eyes and shocking white hair; that wolfish smile that made her senses reel. She thought she had been so close to having him back; the desire to collapse into his arms and get lost there had been so irresistible that when the opportunity didn't arise, she felt more lost and betrayed than she had ever felt before. With every passing moment the yearning for her Shadow Man only grew more urgent, but she couldn't do anything about it. The two most important guys in her life were lost to her forever.

Jenny pushed his image away again, further down than she had ever pushed any thought for fear it would consume her. She realised she had stopped walking and that people were moving around her in a slow procession behind the men carrying his coffin. It shone in the sun of that cold, wintery morning, a pure mesmeric white the colour of snow. She searched around it for the head of gold, but Sophie seemed to have hidden herself among the taller people walking directly behind the coffin. With no other choice, she headed to her right, out of the crowd, to see if she could find her from the outside, but instead her eyes moved down to the deep, rectangular hole with a structure of putlogs and webbing looming over it just ahead of the procession. The mourners were gathering around the grave, finding their places solemnly around the hole while the coffin was positioned on the putlogs, and Jenny took this opportunity to stand next to Sophie at the front of the grave by Tom's family. She looked to the opposite side, where her friends had managed to take up the entire front line of the grave like black-clad soldiers. She didn't want to say anything to Sophie yet, it didn't feel like the right time, so she found herself looking down at the grave near her feet to avoid eye contact. Between the coffin and the edge of the hole, Jenny found herself staring into total unending darkness, hypnotised by its horrid familiarity.

"Deep into the pit." She whispered to herself, unable to move her eyes away from the hole. She hoped Sophie hadn't heard her, though it didn't bother her too much if she did. The priest was reading the burial rites; Jenny heard his voice like an odd background noise, with all her senses fully absorbed by the loss of Tom. All those faraway memories that she had been unable to share played on top of the darkness she was transfixed on like a projector. She remembered his rakish smile, and hazel eyes that used to light up when they met hers. She remembered how it felt to kiss him, and lose herself in his embrace, how the right side of her used to miss him when he wasn't around, because she always sat on his left. She reached for her right arm despondently as the coffin was lowered into the grave, as if he was leaving her side at that very moment. The crying was getting louder all around her, and after a long moment of staring blankly and not being able to feel anything, she let a silent flood of tears overcome her too.

Jenny composed herself as the ordeal came to an end. Friends were throwing flowers and handfuls of earth into the grave before leaving, and it seemed that only those who were very close to Tom remained in the cemetery. Jenny reached into her bag and took out the stuffed white rabbit Tom had given her as an Easter present and the various photos of them together that she had once stuck around her mirror. Tom wanted Jenny to bury the past, so she would do exactly that, as her last act of respect and love for him. Jenny took one last glance at their happiest moments before dropping the latter into the grave. As she turned to walk away, she bumped into Sophie, who she realised must have been watching her.

Jenny swallowed hard and cleared her throat, but Sophie continued to look at her with glassy green eyes. She waited for Sophie to scream at her or slap her, but the silence kept dragging until she could bear it no longer.

"Sophie, I am so sorry, I can't even imagine what…" Sophie raised a hand; not to slap her, but to silence her. It lingered in the air as she tried to think of the right words to say, leaving Jenny no choice but to lick her lips in anticipation.

"I don't have to know your whole back story to know you and Tom shared something really special. I know that…that you never really stopped loving him either, and yes, that is hard for me, but I'm not stupid. I know that whatever happened to us was beyond anyone's control, even yours Jenny."

Jenny tried to interrupt her and correct her. Of course this was all her fault, she is the reason the games happened, but Sophie held her hand up again and continued,

"No, whatever you have to say I don't care. That was hell, and that demon killed Tom. You could have accidentally provoked the demon to kill him, you could have even asked the demon to do it, but I don't want to know. That monster tore you and Tom apart then killed him. Let that be what I believe." Her eyes were very serious, almost pleading, and she was searching Jenny's eyes for confirmation.

"Please Jenny." She whispered desperately. Jenny understood Sophie's reasoning; as long as this damaging event wasn't associated with anything human, it could be easier to forget that it happened at all. Of course she could never forget Tom, but in time, she could forget the reason she lost him. Jenny couldn't help but appreciate that not being entirely blamed by Sophie could help her to feel less responsible for what was done, so eventually she nodded and forced herself to smile at her, if only very weakly. Sophie returned the smile for a moment then shifted her eyes to the grave that was already half filled in.

"I saw the items you put in there. I'm sure you have some very precious memories of you and Tom…" Sophie's voice cut off mid-sentence, and Jenny had to look away from her when tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't want to talk about it with Sophie; the topic of conversation was too strange and personal to be shared by two people.

"I had to go through his belongings with his parents last weekend, under his bed I found a small box pushed to the back with your name on it." She cleared her throat uncomfortably, "There were, erm, photographs, and valentine's cards and other things in it. If you want to come by and pick them up..." Jenny looked then, admiring Sophie's civility in this terrible situation. She was on the verge of breaking down, and couldn't make eye contact with Jenny, but she was essentially admitting to her that Tom had always kept her close to him, even if he had done so in secret. Jenny wanted to pick the box up so she could see what Tom had treasured of her, but she couldn't, and she most certainly wouldn't, for Sophie's sake. She owed her that much.

"No, thank you. I think it's best that we let the past go."

"Yes." Sophie answered awkwardly. Despite the end of the conversation, the girls held eye contact, sharing a whirlwind of emotions in their silent exchange. All the sadness, jealousy, gratitude, and everything else they couldn't express through words was now out of their systems.

"Jenny." Dee was standing behind Sophie. Her friends had started to walk to their cars, but Dee promised to take Jenny home and look after her for a while. She watched her friend sympathetically, probably sensing the tension that was a constant barrier between Jenny and Sophie. She jerked her head to the left, hinting that it was time to go.

"Thank you for forgiving me, Sophie. I can't tell you how much it means to me." Jenny said gratefully before walking towards Dee. She stood by her side for a second, and Dee took her hand and squeezed it.

"Jenny?" Sophie whispered.

"Yes?" Jenny turned back to look at Sophie, but she was standing right in front of her. She wrapped her arms around Jenny's neck to hug her, and hesitantly Jenny returned the hug. It lasted for a few awkward seconds, then Sophie pulled back.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I just felt like I needed to do that." Jenny felt a small part of her burden melt away.

"No need to apologize Sophie, if you ever need me…" She didn't know how to finish the sentence, so she left it incomplete. If Sophie ever needed her, she was sure she'd have no hesitation in being supportive; she loved helping other people. But to put to rest all memories of Tom, she would need to cut off every link, and that included Sophie, so how could she tell this girl she would be there for her whenever she was needed? Instead, she took Sophie's hands and squeezed them like Dee had to her, hoping this would provide some kind of comfort.

With everything said and done, Dee and Jenny walked out of the cemetery silently and slipped into Dee's red Mazda 6. As they pulled away, Jenny looked back in the direction of Tom's grave, and could have sworn that for a second, by the entrance to the cemetery, she saw young Tom Locke in his blue button-down shirt and faded jeans, hands tucked into his pockets casually. He had smiled at her; not his famous confident grin, but a serene expression that told her he was at peace now, before he faded away. Jenny stared until the cemetery was out of sight, then sat back in her seat and closed her eyes as she let the memories of Tom slip away.

"I think you should go home early Jenny." Janet's soft voice brought Jenny out of her daydream, and she straightened up from the counter to look at her. Janet's hair was tied back in a high ponytail with stray chestnut strands falling either side of her face. Her brows were furrowing together in a mixture of confusion and concern, and her brown eyes were searching Jenny's for the same reasons.

"No really, I'm fine." She tried to smile, but this only resulted in the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. It had been so hard to smile recently. Janet shook her head and took Jenny's face in between her hands like a small fragile child.

"Jennifer Thornton, there is no reason for you to be here right now. No one is coming in for sales today, and Aaron is perfectly happy to keep the animals well groomed, aren't you Aaron?" she turned to the boy leaning against the door frame, wiping his hands with a grubby cloth. His voice was sincere when he spoke.

"Of course I am. You look shattered Jenny."

"Go home, get some rest, let yourself have time to mourn your friend, and when you feel better, you can come back to work. Stop trying to push yourself." Jenny looked into Janet's eyes and knew she couldn't express how being at home was worse for her than being busy, even if that meant just standing behind a counter sorting things. "Thank you Janet." She walked around the counter to hug Janet then reluctantly walked over to hug Aaron, who didn't make any attempt to joke around when she did. She was truly grateful for her co-worker's support, but as she retrieved her belongings and left her workplace, she wished they had been dismissive enough to let her mope around behind the counter for the rest of the day.

Jenny didn't want to go home immediately. It was a beautiful sunny day, morning had only just passed, and the idea of spending it lying on her bed looking up to the ceiling wasn't appealing. Then again, the bright atmosphere surrounding her with happy careless people going about their day was a stark contrast to how she felt. She wanted to hide in the corner of a dark room, away from people and light, where her thoughts felt private and no one could judge her actions; but she knew that was her depression trying to pull her further into misery, so she ignored that desire completely.

"Maybe I should visit Tom's grave." Jenny wondered to herself as she followed the sidewalk towards the high street. She knew she could stand there for hours and not feel stupid for letting herself daydream her day away. But Jenny had gone to his grave every day for the last couple of days, and before that she had been at the funeral; considering she had promised to bury the past, she was going back to it a lot. She carried on walking, trying to think of ways to spend her Tuesday, but all her friends were either at work or in College at this time. She stopped when she reached the first shop so she could take off her black work fleece, and even considered going shopping to waste some time. _I've saved up enough money to treat myself _she reasoned, but there were too many people around. The girl that had once loved to be the centre of attention was now skilfully avoiding attention altogether.

Eventually, Jenny surrendered and turned back to go home. The heat was burning into her skin, absorbed by the black and green work clothes she wore. As she stepped onto her street, a quick flash of the wave of darkness entered her mind and left it as suddenly. It had done so ever since she'd returned home, like the street was now haunted by its own nightmare. It didn't help that it was so quiet; there were no kids to play outside because they were at school, adults who would usually converse outside or drive around busily were at work or doing whatever the housewives did with their free time. Only Mr Perry was out on his lawn, tending to his flowers as he always did after mowing. He looked up and saw Jenny, and waved a garden gloved hand at her like the friendly neighbour he was. She waved back absently before walking up her pathway and into her house.

"You're back early." Mrs Thornton sounded surprised as Jenny shut the door behind her. She was sitting at her computer with a cup of steaming coffee by her side, looking perfectly relaxed, dark gold hair falling around her face. Jenny remembered how she had also stopped tying her hair up after she'd emerged from the Shadow World.

"Janet suggested I take the day off."

"That's very good of her," Mrs Thornton smiled warmly and rose from her seat, "Do you want something to eat?"

"No mother. I'm fine. Think I'll go for a rest." Jenny noted the lack of emotion in her voice, and felt disappointed with herself. Surely she couldn't be miserable forever. Mrs Thornton walked over to Jenny and pulled her into a motherly embrace, stroking Jenny's hair out of her face. Jenny wrapped her arms around her back and leant her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Everything is going to be okay, Sweetheart. I promise." It had been so long since they had been close, but Jenny felt nothing. Mentally, she immensely appreciated her mother's comfort, but that was overshadowed by her inability to physically feel any emotion towards anything. All she could do was silently endure the hug until she was released, then walk upstairs to her room avoiding the rejection in her mother's eyes.

As soon as she closed her bedroom door behind her, Jenny knew she should have come here immediately. It felt tremendously relieving to be enclosed in her familiar space, even with the memories of Darien here, this was her hiding place and she was at home here. She slumped onto her bed with a heavy sigh and adjusted the pillows so she was half lying down, half sitting, and allowed her mind to wander. The faint swirly pattern on her white-washed ceiling acted as a blank space for her thoughts to flood onto so she could think about each problem one by one. The house was completely silent; she couldn't even hear the distant sound of her mother's fingers tapping at the keyboard. Every so often, she could hear a gust of wind outside, even though logically she knew this couldn't be right as it wasn't windy outside; it was far too hot for that. Her daydream was evolving; she was no longer thinking about all her individual problems, a much more powerful thought had a hold of her and was luring her in slowly enough to seem like she was falling asleep. Or maybe she was falling asleep…

While she contemplated what was happening, Jenny had appeared in a wide, stretching field with long green grass all around her. It reached up to her knees, tickling at her legs as the wind blew it from side to side. It wasn't a cold wind either; it was pleasant against her exposed skin. She realised her work clothes had been replaced by a thin, knee-length white dress secured by two white straps on her shoulders, and her hair was flailing freely behind her, not so that it was a nuisance but so that is felt like a soothing head massage. She was aware of the vast space around her, though strangely unafraid of it, even if she didn't know where she was. It felt like heaven, or something like it; there wasn't a single sound around her except for the whistling of the wind against the grass.

A thought was tugging at her, clear and strong in her mind. _Walk forward _it said, and she did without question, taking each step forward as if hypnotized. Her feet were bare and wet from the dew, but it didn't faze her at all. She didn't even worry about creatures or insects that could be lurking in such high grass, because it didn't seem to matter. She could have been walking for hours, or days, but when she reached the cave it didn't seem like much time had passed at all, and her legs weren't in pain from walking. The sun shone brightly onto the cave, eliminating any shadows that should've surrounded it, and a beautifully vivid rainbow stretched over its roof, disappearing into the perfectly clear blue sky. The pain that Jenny felt looking at that vivid blue didn't come now, she only felt peace looking up at it, and deeply inhaled the fresh air with a sense of absolute bliss.

"Jenny." His voice instantly caught her attention, and she looked down at the opening of the cave to see him standing in front of her. Julian looked at her with total adoration, cobalt blue eyes gleaming and snow white hair blowing into his eyes and around his beautifully sculpted face. He wore smart white trousers and a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows that shone so intensely in the sunlight that he looked like an angel standing in heaven. He blended into this place so perfectly, that Jenny felt like this was where Julian had always belonged. Then she realised this was the place she had dreamt him into.

"Julian!" she breathed, running forward and into his arms, just like she had wanted to do for so long. He held her close as if she were a precious jewel, and stroked her hair as her mother had done only moments ago, or what seemed like moments ago. It was wonderfully refreshing to feel him in her arms again. It felt like the time they had been in the cave together; no lies, no games, just Julian and Jenny, a single unit, clinging to each other as if they were two pieces of a puzzle that were made to fit together.

"I'm sorry about Tom." Julian whispered. She'd almost forgotten her previous sorrows, they felt so far away from this perfect moment, and remembering them forced some of the magic to fizzle away. She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, but that was something she had considered; that Julian had gotten them into this mess in the first place.

"I'm sorry too. He shouldn't have died the way he did."

"It's Darien's nature. It's our nature." She could see as she pulled away to look into Julian's eyes that he felt guilty for what had happened. He hated Tom, and had wished death upon him for as long as he had been with Jenny, but he wouldn't have been able to kill him, for Jenny's sake. He loved her far too much to see her sad. But Tom had still been killed because of what he'd done to her.

"If I'd just walked up to you and asked…" Julian chuckled miserably, remembering what Jenny had said to him in the caves. He took her hands and stroked the back of them. Jenny watched him do this for a while, thinking of the best way to reassure someone as erratic and exotic as Julian, someone who had spent most of her life stalking her and waiting to claim her. Jenny's answer came in a simple gesture; she tilted her head back expectantly and smiled. Julian' eyes lingered on her lips in slight hesitation, then he lowered his head to kiss her. At first, Jenny felt a wave of relief run through her, finally reunited with the soft, tempting lips of her lover. Then she felt everything all at once; all the sadness, the pain, the loss, every emotion brought on by her withdrawal from Julian. It made her draw closer to him and kiss him more urgently, unwilling to part from her Shadow Man ever again. Julian let go of her hands and pull her waist closer to his so there was no gap between them. Their bodies moulded together in a flurry of pure passion, with nothing or no one around to break them apart. Jenny only pulled away when her body was exhausted. She leant her forehead against Julian's while regaining her breath, and Julian laughed cheerfully. Jenny looked up to find herself lost in his big blue eyes,

"What?" she asked shyly, unable to hide her own smile,

"I love you." He whispered to her. His eyelids drooped, heavy black eyelashes shielding his eyes, and when they met hers again, she felt like her legs would turn to jelly. He was so indescribably beautiful, both in body and soul, that her feelings for him were verging on unbearable.

"I love you too." Her voice wavered, this time affected by her sheer happiness. She reached out and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand, and Julian leant into it and shut his eyes to enjoy the sensation. So, so beautiful.

"I never want this moment to end," Jenny whispered, speaking exactly what was on her mind before she had time to process it, "I never want to leave you."

A flash of blue startled Jenny as his eyes met hers, filled with a longing older than time itself. She felt his desire like an electric surge through her body, even more intensely when he reached up to tilt her chin towards his face. That single touch brought an itching thought to the front of her mind, and before her lips met his in an unbreakable kiss, she spoke.

"I won't."

"Won't what?" Julian enquired softly. Their lips were so close, but they lingered in that position.

"I won't leave you." She made sure her eyes didn't move from Julian's; he had to understand that she was serious. He pulled away again to look at her, patiently searching Jenny's eyes in a second of confusion. Then he smiled; a familiar wolfish grin that had once terrified Jenny, but now only implied playfulness. Deep in his eyes, she could see a spark of anguish.

"Jenny, you're dreaming. I'm in your dream, do you understand?" he seemed uncertain, and she knew he was still trying to detect a game of some sort. It was in his nature.

"Yes, I understand."

"Then how do you propose to stay with me if this ends when you wake up?" Julian's eyebrows were furrowed together, and the expression was so alien to how Julian usually looked that she couldn't stay serious anymore. She smiled up at him and repeated her answer.

"I won't."

**R&R, I'm both terrified and excited to know how this went down!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I swear to you guys this chapter seemed so much more awesome in my head than it had turned out on here, but I did warn you that my last chapter would be sort of rubbish so yeah….**

**You read correctly, this is the last chapter for this story, I don't plan to do anything else to it now, so as my own ceremonial finality to the fan-fiction that took a year to finish, but is probably the only story I've ever bothered to finish, I would like to thank my committed readers: bloodyxfangs, taybay, 1poisonivy, SciFiGeek14, stormie, goat7, JKilove5, PinkPearlWings07 and anyone else that I very rudely missed out, thank you all for continuously making me want to carry on to the end and being so complimentary every step of the way!**

**I love you guys :') **

**Chapter 14**

****"What are you doing!" Audrey asked in horror as she joined Michael, Summer and Zach in the local park. She was already having a bad day, after the long dreary lecture she'd had to endure all afternoon, and the dreadful embarrassment from turning up to college with the same Ralph Lauren cabled cashmere dress on as Chantelle. Having to meet her friends in a filthy park with the very same dress on, and arriving to the sight of a small fire in the trash can didn't do anything to ease her nerves.

"I'm burning my books and my papers." Michael turned to look at her standing on the path, unwilling to move onto the grass to join them. He searched her eyes for a few seconds, then turned back to drop a thick red book with gold writing printed onto its side into the fire, feeding it into a frenzy.

"Why? It's nowhere near the end of the year yet! We agreed that we wouldn't let all of this get to us Michael!" Audrey marched onto the grass, ignoring her concerns about ruining the dress and started to gather up the books piled by Zach and Summer, who were sitting close together on the nearby bench.

"No, I'm burning my books on runes and dark magic. I'm getting rid of them once and for all." Audrey looked at him, then down at the books she was holding. Sure enough, they were illustrated with ancient-looking drawings and runic titles printed in striking colours on the spines. She felt uneasy holding them, like they emitted dark magic into the tips of her fingers, so she dropped them onto the floor by her feet and grimaced down at them.

"I thought you threw them out yesterday."

"I did," he poked at the fire with a stick, then threw it in as he spoke "But it didn't feel like enough to me. These books don't only represent the dark side of me. They represent the part of me that wasn't honest with you." His eyes were big and sombre, like an adorable Spaniel as her friends often teased. Audrey's irritation faltered when she looked into them, and she reached forward to kiss him.

"The speech was a little dramatic, but I'm proud of you." She whispered in his ear, and when she pulled away she noticed Michael was blushing.

"We thought we'd come and watch him do it, treat it like a ceremony to let go of all the bad memories." Summer said, leaning further into Zach's protective embrace. He was lost in the fire, and Audrey could see the flames reflected in his clear, grey eyes.

"Here's to a brighter future." Michael sighed confidently, leaning down to take cans of soda out of his bag and pass them around.

"A brighter future." Audrey repeated, holding her can out to the others with a contented smile on her face. They all copied the gesture and opened their cans. Michael's drink streamed out and trickled down his hand, and the others laughed heartily. The simple faux pas changed the entire atmosphere in the group from a tense, serious moment to a familiar casual one. Finally, it felt like they were just a group of friends again, with Michael lightening the mood and laughter replacing silence and sadness.

"What have I missed?" Dee jogged into the park in her dull green tracksuit, flicking her hair off her forehead as she came to a stop and smiled at her friends.

"Nothing, just in time." Michael grabbed another can and tossed it at Dee, who caught it and opened it in one swift movement. She took a sip and collapsed on the empty bench next to Summer, and Michael and Audrey walked over from the fire to stand in front of them. They all sipped at their drinks for a while, quietly watching the fire crackle and the sky darken above them.

"How long has it been since we've all hung out like this?" Zach asked, breaking the silence when the first few stars glinted around them marking the start of the evening.

"Too long. Way, way too long." Summer beamed up at him, and Zach bowed his head to kiss her on her cheek. Dee and Audrey caught each other's eye turning to look at the sweet gesture, and couldn't help but smile.

"Well next time, can we please pick somewhere with less dirt and insects?" Audrey teased, side-glancing at Michael who only grinned back at her.

"I thought Jenny was coming today," Dee said, placing her drink on the grass and checking the time on her bulky white watch, "She should have finished work like an hour ago."

"Maybe she went home first?" Audrey suggested uncertainly. She noticed that Jenny had seemed to favour her house over any other place since Tom had been buried. Summer lifted her head from Zach's shoulder and retrieved a small pink flip phone from her bag.

"I'll call her and find out."

"Why don't I just dump all these in the fire then we can go see for ourselves?" Before anyone could answer, he threw the four remaining books and entire pile of papers stacked to the thickness of a large book in the trashcan, sending the fire roaring upwards, and brushed his hands together with a sense of finality. The others stood up without question and threw their cans into the trashcan by the gate as they walked out of the park, with Michael strolling behind. Audrey fell back to walk by his side.

"Just out of curiosity, how did you start that fire?" she whispered to him. He smiled at her and slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"I used Kenaz." He replied.

Jenny followed Julian into the cave and down a dark, narrow passage into a place Jenny remembered all too well. They walked out into a cavern dimly lit by a fire to the left of the room protected by a simple stone fireplace, with a beautiful white fur sofa spread across the opposite wall. Julian turned to look at her, and offered his hand, which she eagerly took. He led her to the sofa, and they sat down together on the soft surface, lost for a moment to the mesmerizing fire. Jenny felt strangely at home here, remembering the enchanting memories of Julian in this place, how she had let herself imagine an eternity in the darkness with him. She looked over at her Shadow Man; he was staring so serenely into the fire that for a moment Jenny felt like she was sitting next to a god. The shadows untouched by the light of the fire danced on Julian's face, and Jenny watched in fascination as they threw his features into darkness then illuminated his face once again. When the light shone on the tips of his hair, it flashed in brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red. His large sapphire eyes framed by black lashes were deeper than she'd ever seen them before, and Jenny wondered what he saw in the fire that had him so captivated. She sighed involuntarily, and had to remind herself to breathe when those electric eyes locked with hers without warning.

"I suppose we should discuss the benefits and detriments of your desire to stay with me." His tone was so formal, it made Jenny want to laugh. She had heard his persuasive tone, his angered tone, his hungry tone, but this one was so….so…Darien. Jenny cleared her throat.

"I can give you more reasons for me wanting to stay here than in my world."

"I would love to hear them." Julian grinned at her, his natural ability to be courteous and flirtatious all at once causing Jenny to drift closer to him as she spoke.

"I haven't been happy since you were cut out of the Stave of Life. School ended and my friends drifted away from each other, Tom didn't even want to have to see me again, I lost my interest in going to college because I didn't want to have to think of a future without…"

"But now you have your friends and your family back." Jenny was surprised to hear him say it, because he had once gone to extreme lengths to take her away from them. This had been the question bothering her for a while now, and it was time to make her final decision between staying here with Julian, and going back to reunite with the friends from her carefree days. Into the darkness or back to the light.

"It will never be the same."

"You can't know that." Julian stared down at her with hard blue eyes, almost willing her to reconsider, which confused Jenny. He was trying to persuade her to wake up, to _leave _him, and she didn't understand why; Julian had only ever wanted her to himself for all eternity. She broke eye contact with him to look deep into the fire. This wasn't his decision; it had to be her own.

"Julian, the world scares me. Every single tiny thing about it terrifies me whenever I step outside. Without you to look over me, all the bad things that used to be prevented by you happen, and I don't know how to deal with them. I am so aware of the evil in the world that I can't avoid it, I seem to single it out in any situation. I walk down the streets; I think about what dark secrets those people are hiding. I look outside and see a beautiful sunny day; I know that it's an illusion, to conceal how unjust and cruel nature really is. I look at myself in the mirror, and only feel lost and broken. I'm broken." She bowed her head, swallowing back a wave of tears, then looked back up to the iridescent blue eyes that were staring at her impassively.

"A part of me will always belong to you, and that has become the strongest part of me. I've lived in a world full of darkness for too long, I don't want to be afraid of it anymore. Let me stay here with you."

Julian reached up and stroked away the tear falling down her cheek. Jenny leant into his hand and closed her own hand around his thankfully, watching his eyes move down to her fingers to gaze at the poesy ring he'd given her. She could see he was reminiscing about that moment when she had promised to be his and only his, and was finally accepting that she was ready to keep to that promise.

"I guess the first inscription never freed me." Jenny joked lightly, admiring how the surface of her ring seemed to melt into different shades of gold with the moving light from the fire, and could only just see a smile curl on Julian's lips from the corner of her eye.

"She isn't answering her phone. I'm a little concerned." Summer dialled Jenny's mobile number and held it to her ear again, beyond any hope of hearing Jenny's voice. The group had started a pleasant stroll towards their friend's house, but had started to speed up after the third call to Jenny. It was much darker out now, the stars were bright and plentiful, and there were very few lights on to guide their way.

"She has probably just fallen asleep, don't worry." Audrey sighed.

"Jenny isn't a deep sleeper. She would wake up to her phone ringing, trust me." Dee's voice was stern, and there was obvious uneasiness laced in her tone. Audrey clicked her tongue.

"Bear in mind that we haven't known her well for a while, her sleeping habits could've changed dramatically."

"Let's hope that's all it is." Summer gave up and slipped the phone back in her bag, adjusting its straps on her shoulder as they reached the corner turning onto Jenny's street.

"No, I suppose it didn't" Julian gently ran his thumb along the ring's surface and across the soft pads of her other fingers, which was enough to make Jenny gasp. The gesture was simple yet so sensual, that it resonated through her body and warmed her core. He was staring at her in wonder, seeing something in her eyes that she couldn't see, then without warning, he stood and loomed over her, still very delicately holding her fingers in his hand.

"I think it would be appropriate to renew the vow," his voice was low and compelling, eyes still burning into hers in awe, "If you plan to stay with me."

Jenny rose slowly in the small gap between the sofa and Julian, never looking away from him. Her happiness was impossible to hide, spread unashamedly across her face in a loving smile. Julian returned it immediately.

"It will only be a short ceremony."

Dee rang the doorbell at Jenny's door several times, the others gathering around her impatiently. Mrs Thornton opened it, holding a steaming cup of coffee in her free hand.

"Is Jenny in?" Summer shouted before Mrs Thornton could greet them. She was surprised by their late visit, and momentarily disorientated by the sudden question.

"Erm, I think she is upstairs resting, shall I call up to her that you are all here?"

"If you don't mind, Mrs Thornton, we'd like to go up and see her." Dee said.

"Is everything okay?" Mrs Thornton asked uncertainly, unconsciously placing her newly brewed coffee on the nearby table.

"She was supposed to meet us two hours ago, and she hasn't been answering her phone. We just want to make sure she's okay." Zach's informative tone wasn't convincing enough for Mrs Thornton, who immediately launched towards the stairway allowing the others to pour into the house.

"Jenny?" she called up the stairs before hurriedly climbing them. Dee and Summer followed close behind, but Audrey, Zach and Michael waited on the bottom step tentatively.

"Jenny!" Mrs Thornton tried the handle on her daughter's door, but it wouldn't budge. She knocked harshly on it instead, and when she failed to receive an answer the knocking became frantic banging.

"Jenny let us in!" Dee yelled angrily over the commotion. Audrey and the boys joined them as Joey sleepily stepped out of his room.

"What's going on?" he asked Audrey as she passed him. Audrey put on her best calm smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Everything is fine Joey, try to go back to sleep."

Jenny walked over to the fire very gradually with Julian, savouring the satisfaction the came with becoming entirely possessed by the man she loved. He held the ring carefully between his finger and thumb; he had changed the inscription again, and was now preparing to return it to her finger. They stood either side of the fire facing one another, listening to the soft roar of the flames and absorbing its pleasant heat.

"Repeat after me." Julian ordered quietly, looking down at Jenny with a strange dominating power in his stance. At last, he could now lay claim to the light in his darkness. Jenny lifted her chin to try and appear composed, even with her legs turning to jelly and the light tremors running through her body. In her mind, Jenny was just about to marry her Shadow Man.

"This ring, the symbol of my oath,

Will now hold me to the words I speak:

All I refuse and Thee I choose."

Jenny spoke the words slowly and with as much adoration in her voice as she could fathom, relishing the cool metal of the ring slipping back onto her finger where it belonged, and twitching slightly when the magic of the new oath surged through her system. She leaned forward eagerly to meet his lips, and as he pulled away, Jenny felt something change inside of her, some part of her melt away forever. When she opened her eyes to see Julian's amorous gaze, she knew that part that had disappeared was her sadness.

"Sworn mine. Now and forever." He whispered. And this time, Jenny agreed.

"Stand back, I'm going to break the door in." Dee braced herself, and no one dared to question how she was going to do it. They were all fearful now, expecting the worst from Jenny with every agonising second that she didn't respond to them. They all moved back towards Joey's room, with Joey standing in his doorway watching the situation despondently.

"Three, two, one." Dee landed a hard, forceful kick against the wooden door, but it didn't break or open. She did it again and again, making everyone flinch each time she did. Eventually, the door gave in and opened abruptly, and Mrs Thornton and Dee rushed straight over to the bed, where Jenny lay on top of the covers in her work uniform, hair sprawled carelessly around her face, seemingly unconscious.

"Jenny, wake up!" Mrs Thornton shook her daughter hysterically while Dee tried to check her temperature, and Audrey, Zach and Michael stood in the doorway watching in horror. Joey stood behind them observing through a gap in the sea of heads fussing over his sister.

"Her skin is cold." Dee turned to Audrey, panic clear in her features.

"Talk to me sweetheart, please, please…" Mrs Thornton broke into sobs, letting Jenny fall back onto the bed limply and rocking back and forth in shock. Joey pushed between Michael and Zach to sit beside his mother and hold her. Audrey swallowed hard watching the heart-wrenching scene unfolding in front of her, and as she turned to look back at Dee, her composure slipped entirely.

"I think we need to call 911."

Joey remained by his mother's side all the way to the hospital and during the many hours they sat in the waiting room. Her hysteria had very rapidly died down when the doctors took Jenny away on a hospital bed, and she was now unresponsive, staring at the opposite wall while Mr Thornton, still dressed in his work suit, paced the room incessantly. Jenny's friends lined the seats by the wall nearest to the door; the red haired girl that he could never remember the name of was squeezing Mike's hand, and Summer was nestled into the shoulder of his cousin sobbing silently as he stroked her hair. Dee was biting her nails a few seats away at the end of the row, watching his dad walk the length of the small room and back. Thankfully, the waiting room had been empty for an hour or so, allowing the group to react to the tense moment as they pleased. As Joey considered telling his dad to sit down, a middle-aged man wearing a white coat walked through the door.

"Mr and Mrs Thornton, a private word please." He whispered, and Joey's father immediately walked over to his wife to help her up. Joey watched, biting the inside of his mouth to stop himself from asking to come with, and shifted in his seat when the door closed behind them. Once again, the room was silent, but he could see in the corner of his vision that Summer was now looking at him. He found this uncomfortable, because she obviously pitied his circumstance, and he didn't want her empathy. He wanted to be back at home in his bed, reading the book he'd left face down on his pillow, away from this cold, white, sterile place. Dee rose from her seat and walked over to sit in the space next to him. Joey sighed in response.

"Is there anything I can get you?" she asked him rather uncharacteristically. He had known Dee most of his life as Jenny's sarcastic, strong-willed friend, and now she was acting like the red head. He gave her an awkward side glance.

"No, thank you."

Mr and Mrs Thornton returned, holding a handful of tissues with tears pouring from their eyes. Jenny's friends stood in unison readying themselves for the bad news, but Joey remained seated.

"Jenny is in a coma. The doctors say they can't find the cause, she doesn't have any underlying health problems, that it could be internal trauma or a build-up of stress…" Mr Thornton pinched the bridge of his nose tightly and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back the fresh tears that were preventing him from continuing. Mrs Thornton added in an even more heart-breaking sob,

"They don't think she will wake up."

The waiting room became a chorus of wailing and crying in an instant. Summer collapsed to the floor pulling Zach down with her, holding onto each other in a deflated kneeling position. The red head half screamed half moaned, but Mike was quick to fold her into his arms and rock her like a baby while crying himself. Dee collapsed back into the chair next to Joey and buried her face in her hands, and he watched as her arched back rose and fell with what he imagined was her building hysteria. Joey watched them all react, not quite knowing how to react himself, totally unable to cry or move. His brain was desperately deciphering the news of his sister's condition, wondering how likely it was that the nightmarish experiences with that black haired guy were the cause of her condition. Of course it was, it had to be; something about the timing of the situation was nudging at him, and the words that the guy had said to Jenny:

"_Life isn't fair; it has never been fair, and never will be. There will always be an evil force driving people to discriminate, torture, kill, again and again, and there is no fighting it. Good has never truly triumphed over evil, not even in the fairy-tales"_

and suddenly, he knew how to react. Joey clenched his teeth together hard, and balled his fists so that his nails dug into his palms.

"How many places are there in this cave?" Jenny giggled as Julian led her through yet another stony hallway. She couldn't see him in the dim lighting from the primitive torches on the walls, but she knew he was grinning at her.

"You should know better than me Jenny, you dreamt me into this place." He slowed his pace and stood aside to let Jenny walk through the small archway into the next cavern. Julian evoked the rune for light, and as the room lit up, Jenny gasped.

The floor was made of spotless black marble stretching across a long room with a beautifully white fur carpet in its centre. The walls were made of stone, but tiny crystals or diamonds, Jenny couldn't tell, twinkled on every inch of it. In the centre of the cavern, positioned majestically on the end of the carpet, sat two elaborately carved black and silver thrones reaching well above head level with matching candle stands either side of them.

"Out of all your fantasies involving me, beautiful Jenny, this one is by far my favourite." She turned to look at him bursting with joy, only to be met by an even more pleasant sight. Julian's bright white clothing had at some point been replaced by tight black breeches and simple black boots, and a black regency-style waistcoat adorned with a stunning silvery swirl pattern down the centre. He offered her an expectant hand, and she admired his intricately designed rings and a simple gold ring identical to her own before raising her hand to place in his. Before her fingers reached his palm, she acknowledged her own very subtle wardrobe change; she was wearing equally wonderful rings on her fingers, and her nails, previously plain and untouched, were much longer and painted in the same swirly silver and black pattern as the one on Julian's waistcoat. On her hands and lower arms she wore lacy, fingerless gloves, and her spaghetti strap white dress had been replaced by a very large and very impressive silky black gown. It was a corset dress that hugged her curves perfectly with the swirly pattern down its centre, and puffed out into a marvellous amount of skirt layers that trailed to the floor. Carefully lifting the many layers, Jenny inspected the simple shimmery black stilettos with long silver heels. She reach her hand up to her neck and felt the cool bumpy surface of a triangular shaped necklace pointing down towards her cleavage, moving her hands up to feel the equally bumpy surface of her earrings. She imagined the jewellery matched her glittering diamond bracelet, and wished she had a mirror to check, even though she knew because she had worn this outfit so many times in her dreams. She then very gently felt her hair, falling in luscious golden ringlets either side of her face and secured into a complicated up-do by her silver and black crown. Her eyes focused on Julian's own very beautiful crown that looked even blacker against his stark white hair, then down to the hungry blue eyes accessing her reaction.

"Wow." She breathed, smiling up at him in uncontrollable wonderment. He was beyond flawless in this setting, in those clothes, in her dream. His presence was so powerful to her that it almost made her want to cry, for reasons she would never begin to understand, and finally placing her hand in his, she was sure she would never regret her decision to be his.

"Come, my princess of darkness." He teased softly, leading Jenny slowly and seductively towards her ultimate fantasy.

Darien strolled through the harsh, icy mountains idly, enjoying the chaotic atmosphere unfurling around him. The screaming of the relentless wind all around him would be considered hellish on Earth, but Darien found it soothing and closed his eyes to concentrate on the sounds obscured by its howling. He heard his elders laughing, hissing, talking in low voices in the distance, the persistent cries of their victim from miles away, and the crackle of never-ending thunder above him. He opened his eyes in time to see a line of lightning strike somewhere far ahead of him, and sighed heavily with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans.

"Home." He acknowledged to himself. Through the wind he heard the whisper of his name, and speedily head in the direction it came from, knowing that it was his summoning.

He stepped into the cave minutes later, carefully making his way across the thinly iced-over floor into the small cavern where the elders dwelled. The room was very dark, only lit by the eerie yellow glow from the elder's eyes and the soft silvery glow emitted by the runes carved into the Stave Of Life, secured in the hands of one of the elders. He walked into the centre of the room of grotesque creatures and clasped his hands behind his back formally.

"My presence was requested." He informed them dully.

"Yes, we want to congratulate you on such a successful and entertaining game." The tallest Shadow Man answered with his beautiful wind chime voice.

"Though we were hoping to feed on the boy you killed." Another elder with a voice like nails scratching on a chalk board hissed, and the others laughed at the supposed inside joke.

"Thank you. I was rather impressed myself," Darien replied confidently, ignoring the chiding remark, "I very much look forward to my next opportunity."

"That has come sooner that you expected." Another spoke in a voice like snow blowing. Darien raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Oh?"

"Another human, delving in the forbidden magic, plans to challenge us. He wants to play, and we have the perfect game maker to put on a show."

"He?" Darien asked, an audacious bloodthirsty smile curling on his lips. The tall Shadow Man with the crocodile eyes returned the smile on colourless, deformed lips and fingered the Stave of Life held threateningly in his hands.

"Yes, a young boy you have already encountered once before," the creatures lips pulled back to reveal a row of yellow decaying teeth, eager to sink into warm human flesh. The other elders cackled menacingly around him as he spoke the boy's name:

"Joseph Thornton."

**Thank you to ~Lordofthezodiac on deviantart for providing my amazing cover and essentially bringing Darien to life as well. Thank you for reading. R& R (:**


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